Carlos Slim Helú
At 85, business magnate Carlos Slim Helú remains the wealthiest person in Mexico with a personal fortune estimated at nearly $92 billion, amassed through ownership of the mobile telecom company América Móvil and stakes in consumer goods, real estate, construction, and mining businesses. He is also among the country's biggest philanthropists. Since it was founded in 1986, his foundation has given away more than $4 billion, with the bulk of donations over the past two decades largely to programs that aim to improve the lives of people throughout Latin America.
Launched in 1986, Fundación Carlos Slim tackles everything from education and health care to road safety and disaster relief. Earlier this year, the foundation celebrated the 15th anniversary of its Mesoamerica Health Initiative, which works with partners like the Gates Foundation to improve access to medical care for women and children in eight Latin American countries. Another program provides free online job training for more than 200 occupations, and a job board populated by 54 participating companies.
The donations reflect Slim's belief that job creation, not philanthropy, is the key to helping people. 'Combating poverty is linked to employment,' he said at a press conference in February. He hasn't signed the Giving Pledge, claiming that the rich passively giving wealth won't on its own solve any problems—a perhaps controversial statement from a sometimes controversial figure who has received criticism for his monopolistic hold on the telecommunications market in Mexico and other industries. 'What they have to donate is their work, their dedication to solving society's problems, not make [just financial] donations," he said.
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