Weekend Economists American Bad Boys Part 1 July 12-13, 2014

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34. World’s Richest Lose $33 Billion as Slim Plans Breakup

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-11/world-s-richest-lose-33-billion-as-slim-plans-breakup.html

The world’s 300 richest people dropped $33 billion from their collective net worth this week as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index suffered its worst week since April.

Bucking the trend was Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who added $4.4 billion to his fortune after he announced plans to carve up his telecommunications empire. The billionaire said this week that his America Movil SAB (AMXL), the Americas’ largest wireless operator with 272 million subscribers, is bowing to imminent antitrust legislation by selling assets in Mexico to reduce its dominant market share.

Slim is planning to spend more money in countries such as Brazil while placing bigger bets on industries like energy. The 74-year-old said he’s bullish on Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and plans to refocus his investments to take advantage of increasingly cheap borrowing costs.

“I’m optimistic that with the low interest rates in the long term, the opportunities to invest in our countries is significant,” Slim, said in an interview this week in his office in the Lomas neighborhood of Mexico City, before the breakup announcement. “We have to take advantage of this great window while it lasts.”