Born on January 28 1940 in Mexico City, Carlos Slim Helu has steadily been creeping up the ranks of the richest people in the world over the past few years and has overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the richest person on the planet according to the Mexican financial website Sentido Comun. Slim, the son of Lebanese immigrants, has been drawn to the world of business from his early years when he used to work in his father’s shop. The 67 year-old started in real estate and was already wealthy enough to start buying stakes in a stock brokerage when he graduated from university with an engineering degree. In his early 20s he started his financial ascent by forming his own brokerage firm. Analysts say one of Slim’s smartest and most lucrative deals took place when he gained control of Mexico’s largest telephone company “Telefonos de Mexico” (Telemex) in 1990, during a period when the government was moving to privatize the extensive monopoly. After this pivotal juncture and due to the array of businesses he made and amount of profits he raised, the door to his “superwealth” opened: “In 1997, Slim bought about three percent of Apple Computer at $17 a share. Twelve months later, Apple’s shares topped $100”. And with numerous similar intelligent deals, Slim built his persona, name and strong position in the business field over the years. And now, his multiple holdings extend to about 200 other businesses involved in everything from construction to music, restaurants and cigarettes.

Needless to say his achievements are many. He has been vice-president of the Mexican Stock Exchange, president of the Mexican Association of Brokerage Houses and president of the Latin-American Committee of the New York Stock Exchange Administration Council. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Altria Group and Alcatel and on the Board of Directors of SBC Communications until July 2004. He is the Majority Shareholder of CompUSA and he built an important Mexican financial-industrial empire, Grupo Carso, which he later became the Honorary Lifetime Chairman of. He is now Chairman of Telemex, America Movil (Latin America’s largest cell phone company) and Grupo Financiero Inbursa.

Widowed in 1999, Slim has boosted his philanthropic presence within his business empire by developing a strong profile on the humanitarian front just like Bill Gates. In fact, he used to say that “the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping others.” And recently, he allied himself with former US president Bill Clinton’s foundation and with Canadian mining magnate Frank Giustra to launch an anti-poverty campaign in Latin America.

In addition to his passion for business, Slim is a famous art collector and he houses his sculptures in Mexico City’s Museo “Soumaya”, a museum he funded and named after his late wife. After the fortune he made in telecoms, Slim turned to construction two years ago. His infrastructure company, Ideal, is currently working on a $150m project to develop a shopping mall, two schools, a hospital and a park by 2010 in Mexico City. In fact, he once stated in a public appearance that ventures such as Ideal can help fight poverty more effectively than charity.

At the beginning of this year, Slim had surpassed investment expert Warren Buffett as No.2 with $53bn but was still behind Bill Gates and his $56bn. However, the rising values of stock in Slim-controlled giant companies like Telemex, America Movil, as well as several other holdings, raised Slim’s wealth to $67bn by the end of June.

Some critics claim that Slim is a monopolist, noting that Telemex controls 90% of the Mexican landline telephone market. And the contrast between Slim’s wealth and the poverty of much of Mexico’s population is also troubling to critics. But nothing can change the fact that telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim Helu holds the world’s fattest wallet this year. But as he said many times, he is not in any competition because: “When you live for others’ opinions, you are dead.” Mr. Slim doesn’t want to “live thinking about how he’ll be remembered.” But let’s face it Mr. Slim, you will surely be remembered as the ideal and the competitor of every businessman on the planet…