Carlos Slim Just Got $16 Billion Poorer, But Is a Whole Lot More Popular Bloomberg
go to original March 3, 2017

Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest resident, has seen his vast fortune diminished since the election of President Donald Trump (Luxatic)

On June 15, 2015, the day before Donald Trump launched his presidential bid, Carlos Slim’s personal fortune stood at just under US$67 billion. Today, it’s about US$51 billion.

No one on earth has lost more during Trump’s rise — from a dollar and cents standpoint, at least — than the Mexican telecom magnate. His rank on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index has slipped to sixth after having once held the No 1 spot.

Some of the reasons behind his tumble, of course, have little to do with US politics, but much of it comes down to this: Trump’s tough talk on Mexico has sunk the peso, dragging down the dollar-based value of Slim’s domestic assets in the process.

There’s another, entirely unexpected, element to the Slim saga, though.

The very same forces that are shrinking his fortune are, oddly enough, also boosting his popularity at home — to the extent that he is now talked about wistfully as a candidate in next year’s presidential election.

...A poll by El Universal in January showed that Slim was considered the best-suited Mexican to face Trump, edging out populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the early frontrunner.

His calls for the Mexican economy to look inward, as much as his vast fortune and defiance of Trump, have resonated with Mexicans.

Read the rest at Malay Mail Online

Related: Trump’s Election Win Largely Responsible for Me

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