Carlos Slim Helu proved firm and patient optimism always yields success

Carlos Slim Helu is a multi-billionaire investor and philanthropist. He has been given the title the wealthiest man in the world by the Forbes magazine numerous times and currently owns well over 200 businesses worldwide.

Having begun investing his money straight out of college, he now is an extremely wealthy man that is able to donate a considerable amount of his fortune to charities that help numerous different causes.

Helu was born in Mexico City, Mexico, on January 28, 1940, to Lebanese parents along with five other siblings.

Helu’ father was a successful business owner and had taught all of his children about business at a very young age. When he was only 12 years old, he had already invested in a national bank’s shares.

After his father’s death in 1953, Helu continued to work for his business until the age of 17. He went to the National Autonomous University of Mexico and studied civil engineering. While at school he was also teaching algebra and linear programming but went into the business industry immediately after graduating.

Having received numerous years of business training from his father, Helu began his career by starting his own brokerage. He would invest in small individual businesses and by the year 1965, he had grown his business enough that he could incorporate other companies or even buy them out entirely.

Although he did invest his money in numerous different kinds of businesses, he mainly focused on mining, real estate and construction. By 1966, he was estimated to be worth around US $ 40 million. He continued to invest his funds and by 1980, he had unified his shares into a parent company called Grupo Galas.

In 1982, the prices of oil dropped immensely, which caused the Mexican economy to suffer greatly. This led to him expand his shares and investing in international companies. He soon had a 50 percent share in The Hershey Company.

In 1990, he continued to extend his control to the telephone communication companies in hopes of soon acquiring the Mexican phone company Telmex from the government. After he obtained the company, he soon developed a US version of Telmex and he even purchased a stake in the US mobile company Tracfone.

After going through heart surgery, he began to pass on some of his daily work to his children and backed away from the business life.

In the 2000s, Helu continued to invest in some of the biggest companies in the world, including The New York Times Company, Volaris, Saks Fifth Avenue and Telekom Austria.

By January of 2015, Helu had become The New York Times Company’s largest individual shareholder. In 2019, Helu’s net worth is US $ 56 billion and he’s one of the richest people of all time.

Lessons to be learned from Carlos Slim Helu
1. Making money in a downturn
An aspect of Helu that is unique is that he made a significant part of his fortune during one of the hardest economic recessions in Mexico. His strategy was to find relatively healthy companies that were undervalued based on overly negative sentiment. For example, Cemex, one of the largest cement companies in the World, which he bought for US $ 26 million, which is worth over US $ 60 billion.

2. Have simple organisational structures
Always have simple organisational structures, minimal hierarchical levels; provide human and in-house development of the executives; maintain flexibility and fast decision-making capability; work with the advantages of a small company.

3. Stay focused on modernisation, growth, training, quality
It’s important to stay focused on modernisation, growth, training, quality, simplification and the continuous improvement of production processes. Increase productivity and competitiveness. Reduce costs and expenses; judge performance based on global benchmarks.

4. Live without fear and guilt
Helu mentions that fear is the worst feeling men can have. It weakens them, inhibits action and depresses them. Guilt is a tremendous burden in our lives, the way we think and act. Guilt and fear make the present difficult and obstruct the future. To fight them, let us have good sense and accept ourselves as we are, with our realities, our merits and our sorrows.

5. Invest in areas that customers find it difficult to avoid you
Helu has invested in real estate, bakeries, telecoms, education institutions, healthcare, fashion, museums, etc. By doing this, he is serving his customers every day in different ways. People joke that: Mexico should be renamed ‘Slimlandia’ because it is impossible to avoid contributing to his vast empire.

6. Good education helps one manage big business better
Decision-making enables business success. Helu’s experience encourages one to invest during economic down times as well as the boom. During economic down time, premium companies can be purchased at a fraction of their true share values.

7. Be humble
Being wealthy is a huge responsibility. Helu stays in a six-bedroom house in the area he has lived for more than 40 years. He drives himself to the office about one mile away from his home. He has kept the family together. There is a particular time every week for dinner with his sons and a particular day for dinner with his grandchildren (23 in total).

8. Prepare yourself
Many people took notice of Helu when he made a move to acquire Telmex and emerged on the Forbes list of world billionaires but prior to that, Helu has been preparing to undergo the entrepreneurial process.
One attribute of becoming a successful entrepreneur is the ability to recognise business opportunities when it comes knocking. Aliko Dangote (the richest black man in the world) once said that to succeed in business, you have to pray for a big break and be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when it comes.

9. Stick to the game
Entrepreneurship is a game, so also is investing. To succeed in this game, you must be committed to the entrepreneurial process and play to win. Before emerging the richest man in the world, Helu has already found success as an entrepreneur and had every cause to retire. Yet, he stuck to the process.

10. Understand your business to the core
Another reason why Helu became the richest man in the world was because he understood his business to the core. Helu is reputed to control over 200 companies all over the world. How did he start? How did he get there? He was able to start a business and grow to over 200 companies because he understood his business to the core.

Let’s take a look at the three advices he gave young entrepreneurs:
1. Material items don’t equal happiness
Material items are not essential for happiness. Most of the time the most meaningful and valuable things in life are things like love, kindness and honour.

2. Live in the present
Do not let your life be burdened by mistakes from the past because no matter what your past may have been, you can pave the way for your own future. Live each moment to its fullest and be fearless.

3. Embrace your achievements
Don’t be afraid to embrace and take pride in your accomplishments. You deserve to feel good about yourself and cherish your achievements.
(Lionel Wijesiri is a retired company director with over 30 years’ experience in senior business management.  Presently he is a freelance journalist and could be contacted on [email protected])