📊 Billionaires

From Telecom to Tech — the shifting tides of Latin America's billionaires.

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Wealth 💰

The year is 2010. Mexico is celebrating the bicentennial of its Independence from Spain. President Felipe Calderón is engaged in a militarized crackdown on drug cartels. On the back of America Móvil and its Mexican subsidiaries Telmex and Telcel, Carlos Slim has become the wealthiest man on Earth.

A film about Facebook, The Social Network, came out that same year. Why is that relevant? Read on.

Today, Mr. Slim is the 8th wealthiest man on Earth, but not due to shrinking wealth; his net worth has since practically doubled to almost $100B.

Latin America's 10 Richest People

So what happened? US "tech titans" — Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison — took back the podium and raised the stakes of how much is needed to be at the top.

You have to scroll pretty far down the Forbes Billionaires List to find the next wealthiest person from Latin America.