Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim Is Biggest Winner Amid Tariff Rout

Forbes

As stocks tanked following news of President Trump’s new tariffs, Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu got billions richer. Here’s why.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gigizamora/2025/04/03/mexican-billionaire-carlos-slim-is-biggest-winner-amid-tariff-rout/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00On a day when stock indices in multiple countries tumbled in the wake of President Donald Trump's

00:05sweeping new tariffs, the fortune of Latin America's richest person — and the world's

00:1019th richest person — bucked the trend.

00:14Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Haleu got $2.1 billion richer on Thursday, making him

00:20the biggest billionaire gainer globally.

00:23Slim is now worth $84.3 billion, according to Forbes estimates.

00:28Slim, a descendant of Lebanese immigrants to Mexico, built his fortune over six decades

00:35investing in mining, retailing, infrastructure, and heavy industry.

00:41In 1990, his conglomerate Grupo Carso led a $1.8 billion privatization of Mexico's state-owned

00:48telecom company Telmex, with partners France Telecom and Southwestern Bell, now part of AT&T.

00:56In 2011, Telmex became part of America Mobile, which itself was a greatly expanded version

01:02of Telmex's one-time cellular arm.

01:06Slim, age 85, once ranked as the world's richest person on Forbes' World Billionaires list.

01:12He held the spot for four years, from 2010 to 2013.

01:17Since then, his fortune has been overtaken by Bill Gates, then Jeff Bezos, and now Elon Musk.

01:23Trump's announcement late Wednesday of new tariffs on a slew of countries led the S&P 500

01:29to tumble 4% that day.

01:32Mexico, however, was not subject to additional tariffs.

01:36Trump previously announced a 25% tariff on imported autos, which does not affect Mexico.

01:43An earlier threat by Trump to impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico, announced on March

01:483rd, was largely paused by the U.S. president several days later.

01:54Slim's fortune was boosted Thursday by gains in two of his biggest holdings, telecom firm

01:59America Mobile and industrial conglomerate Grupo Carso.

02:05Alejandro Gayostra, a telecoms analyst at BBVA, said, quote,

02:10The positive impact on Mexico overall is more of a macroeconomic issue.

02:15It has to do with the relative effect of tariffs on Mexico compared to the rest of the world.

02:21It looks like Mexico could continue to be an important partner for the U.S. despite everything,

02:25relatively speaking.

02:27And that could reignite near-shoring in Mexico.

02:31For more on this story, check out Gigi Zamora's article in the link in the description.

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