He is called the King Midas of Latin America. His name is Carlos Slim Helu, and he is listed as Forbes.com’s 3rd richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of $49 billion. Forbes writes of Carlos Slim Helu, "The world’s third-richest man is $19 billion richer this year [2007] and catching up with Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett thanks to a strong Mexican equities market and the performance of his wireless telephone company, America Movil. The son of a Lebanese immigrant, Slim made his first fortune in 1990 when he bought fixed line operator Teléfonos de México (Telmex) in a privatization. Last year he spent $3.7 billion to buy the Latin American operations of Verizon Communications, expanding his empire into Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. A widower and father of 6, Slim is a baseball fan and art collector. He keeps his art collection in Mexico City’s Museo Soumaya, which he named after his late wife. In recent years he has donated close to $4 billion to education and health projects, and to the revitalization of downtown Mexico City’s historical district."

Carlos Slim is said to have a somewhat monopolistic hand in everything in Mexico. In a June 3, 2006 New York Times article titled, "Prodded by the Left, Mexico’s Richest Man Talks Equity", Ginger Thompson writes of Slim, "He controls companies that produce cement, copper and tobacco. His bank lends money to Mexico’s richest companies, insure drivers and offer pensions to the working class. And in the last couple of years some of his companies have begun a push into housing and infrastructure." But the main source of Carlos Slim’s wealth are his telecommunications companies, Telmex and America Movil.

WIKIPEDIA - Carlos slim gained notoriety when he led a group of investors that included France Télécom and Southwestern Bell Corporation in buying Telmex from the Mexican government in 1990 in a public tender during the presidency of Carlos Salinas. He has attracted criticism from some for allegedly abusing its quasi-monopolistic power and stifling competition in long distance, local and mobile markets.

The change in ownership of Telmex coincided with telephone prices going up dramatically, and Mexicans complain that there was no comparable change in service quality. Slim is accused of using his influence on political leaders to ensure that Telmex’s near monopoly on the communication market was maintained, allowing high rates to continue.

The lack of any real competition meant that consumers had to pay more for the telecommunication services than countries with a more competitive market. In recent years, increased public outcry, competition and regulatory assertiveness from the Mexican antitrust commission (Comisión Federal de Competencia) has resulted in lower rates. The long-distance market has been opened up to other competing providers. In 2006, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development based in Paris, reported that Mexicans pay some of the highest phone rates in the world.

According to Mexico’s central bank President Guillermo Ortiz, Mexico has the highest costs of telephone service for business and international residential calls, and the highest cost of broadband internet for businesses among the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

NEW YORK TIMES - Today, 9 out of 10 telephone lines in Mexico are operated by Telmex. Its mobile sister company, Telcel, operates almost 80 percent of all the country’s cellphones. That dominance has financed Mr. Slim’s expansion abroad. Over the past five years, his wireless carrier América Móvil has bought cellphone companies across Latin America to become the region’s dominant company, with more than 100 million subscribers.