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The Mexican Peso continues to strengthen today. What perfect timing, then, that Michelle Caruso-Cabrera sat down for a rare one-on-one interview with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. But here's what you didn't see on TV, as Michelle guest blogs here a few of her thoughts about the world's second richest man:
Carlos Slim used to be in competition to be the richest man in the world. That is until he lost $20 billion dollars IN A MONTH.
According to Slimwatch, a web site in Mexico that monitors his wealth, he was worth $58.2 billion at the end of September. Now he's "only" worth $38.2 billion, due to the sharp falls of the stocks of his companies on the Mexican Bolsa. When I spoke with him yesterday, he said he wasn't worried about it. His companies are like his house, he says. He's not selling, so if the value fluctuates, it doesn't matter.
My favorite part of the discussion occurred when I asked him what it is like to be so wealthy. He shook his head. He said "I don't have money. I have a company." He asked me what would happen if I suddenly became very rich--would I behave any differently? "Would you get drunk every day?" Mr. Slim asked me. I said "No, but I think I would sleep better at night." He said, "No you wouldn't, you would sleep worse." He went on to say that running a huge public company carries huge responsibility, for people's lives, their jobs, their investments. He's leaving his companies to his sons. Slim told me, "I'm not leaving them money, I'm leaving them responsibilities."
Slim has pledged $6 billion to improving health and education in Mexico. He's the biggest philanthropist in Latin America. But his take on "charity" has made him, in some ways, controversial. Here's a transcript of that part of the interview.
MCC: You already know the criticism. Some people say, based on various metrics, you don't give enough.
CARLOS SLIM: That's their problem. That's not my problem. My problem is not to give charity. It's to try to solve problems. If you look in the last 100 years or 50 years, how many trillions of dollars have been done for charity for-- for poverty, and we don't solve any problem? You-- you can find thousands of experts, thousands-- not thousands-- hundreds of thousands of experts, or maybe millions of experts. A lot of Congress meetings, debt relief, help for food, United Nations organizations, health institutions. And we have not solved problems.
But we need to focus to solve the problems. Is not a problem-- is not a quantity problem. Is not to give charity. Is not to give money to the people. Is to-- to give them nutrition, health, education, culture.
MCC: The means.
CARLOS SLIM:The means, and employment. You will need to develop employment. And in our countries, employment is done by investment, by investment. And you need to push the areas that are more intensive in labor.
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