Carlos Slim (Mexico City, January 28, 1940) is a renowned Mexican billionaire. He is currently the sixth richest man in the world according to the prestigious Forbes magazine.
His academic journeys led him to graduate in civil engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He later began buying and selling real estate, businesses with which he began to amass a small fortune.
Later he immersed himself in different businesses in telecommunications and the Internet, with which he gradually forged the largest fortune in Mexico and one of the largest in the world, ranking only behind the Microsoft magnate, Bill Gates.
Misunderstood solidarity is, of course, not a long-term solution.
21. All companies make mistakes. The trick is to avoid the big ones.
A tip to avoid major inconveniences.
22. I don’t believe much in luck. I believe in circumstances. I believe in work.
Phrase that many millionaires repeat.
23. Use any personal crisis to become stronger.
Certainly, a bad streak should make us come out very strengthened.
24. The truth is that you leave this world with nothing. What you are is a temporary administrator, and you must manage well… the wealth under your care, and generate more. The surplus can be used to make many things for people.
Your view on money and life.
25. Competition makes you improve. It always, always improves you, even if the competitor is stronger than you.
Competition has to push you to be better.
26. Money is not a goal. The objective is to make companies grow, develop, be competitive, be in different areas, be efficient to have a great human team within the company.
Companies have their beginning and their end… and the goal should not be to get rich.
27. Education and employment are the remedies for poverty.
Without these weapons, the battle is lost.
28. The best barrier you can have is to create opportunities in Mexico, so that people don’t leave.
About the situation in the North American country.
29. Success is not doing things well or very well and having the recognition of others. It is not an external opinion, it is an internal state. It is the harmony of the soul and its emotions, which needs love, family, friendship, authenticity, integrity.
Brutal reflection on success.
30. Our premise is and has always been to keep in mind that we are leaving with nothing; that we can only do things in life and that the entrepreneur is a creator of wealth that he temporarily manages.
Another phrase that takes away the iron from the economic issue.
31. A job well done is not only a responsibility to society, it is also an emotional need.
When we work efficiently, we will sleep more peacefully and happily.
32. Simple structures, organizations with minimum hierarchical levels, human development and internal training of executive functions. Flexibility and speed in decision making. Operate with the advantages of the small company that are what make large companies great.
This is how a company should be, according to Carlos Slim.
33. What is important is to have your feet on the ground, the concept of family, friends; appreciate things that have true value, not just material, not just physical.
Ironically, a billionaire who does not attach importance to material profit.
34. A person is not successful because he does well in business, he does well professionally or he gets a 10 in school. Success is measured by how many people smile at you, how many people you love, how many admire your sincerity and the simplicity of your spirit.
A recipe for emotional success.
35. Occupation displaces worry, and problems disappear when faced.
Great word game that serves as a guide for everyday life.
36. Problems should make us stronger, learn from failures and make silent stimuli from successes.
Focused on the future.
37. There is no challenge that we cannot achieve by working together with clarity of objectives and knowing the instruments.
Cooperation leads to the highest goals.
38. The money that leaves the company evaporates. That’s why we reinvest profits.
There is no point in wasting.
39. Avoid bitter dramatic adjustments in times of crisis.
Firing is not the solution to the company’s problems.
40. Maintain austerity in times of good times. This strengthens, capitalizes and accelerates the development of the company.
Great advice for successful corporations.
41. Success is about whether you are remembered when you leave. It refers to how many people you help, how many you avoid harming, or whether there is no resentment in your heart. It is about your dreams being in your triumphs and that your achievements do not hurt your peers. It is about your integration with others, not your control over them.
Positive emotions and optimism in abundance.
42. All times are good for those who know how to work and have the means to do so.
One of those Carlos Slim phrases that extol the value of perseverance and professionalism.
43. In wealth itself, the important thing is not how much you have, what you have; but what is done with it.
You decide what kind of life you want.
44. Since I was little I liked investments.
Another famous quote that explains his precocity with business.
45. I believe that success is not economic.
Many other facets of life are more relevant.
46. Success depends on whether you used your head as much as your heart, if you were generous, if you loved children and nature, if you cared about the elderly. It is about your kindness, your desire to serve, your ability to listen, and your courage over behavior.
Being a good person is above all.
47. You can’t have people in your organization who are pessimistic. They will lead you to mediocrity.
Flee from pessimism and ash people.
48. When we meet, groups cannot compete with each other within the company. We need to go in the same direction, we do not compete within, we compete outside.
A great maxim for success.
49. My father used to say: Do it well and do it on time.
A great reflection from Carlos Slim’s father.
50. When you don’t have money, it’s a problem. But it’s a bigger problem when people who have excess money are not running businesses and making investments or creating jobs and doing things for society. They only think about possessions.
The nouveau riche often make terrible decisions.
51. If we have to make mistakes, we make small mistakes… We prefer not to make them, of course, but small mistakes are the best.
At least they tell you where not to go without wasting large amounts.
52. I learned from my father that you should continually invest and reinvest, even in times of crisis.
Always with an expansion mentality.
53. In business, you invest when things are not in good shape. When you invest in those times, you position yourself better against the competition. When there is a recession and your competition does not invest, they are giving you an advantage.
Great financial teaching.
54. When you live by the opinion of others, you are dead. I don’t want to live wondering how I will be remembered.
Make your own path, some will follow you and some will not.
55. It is important for business leaders to create human capital, a team with the same sense of belonging and disposition.
A great team keeps everything running smoothly.
56. Profitability comes from productivity, efficiency, management, austerity and the way the business is managed.
It all adds up, if you do it right.
57. Our philosophy is that it should provide non-profit money for health, nutrition, education, culture and sports.
A successful philosophy that is respectful of the human environment.
58. I believe that everything that has privileges has responsibility and all people who are clear about their responsibility have a commitment to others.
About altruism.
59. It is not necessary to increase taxes on rich people, as they create capitalization and investment. But you need to tax speculation, i.e. capital gains.
A tax recipe.
60. If you are in business, you are not enjoying yourself. Are you working.
In fact, “business” is, etymologically, the denial of leisure.
61. I buy companies for strategic reasons and exploit them.
A way to accumulate assets.
62. There are people who are good at letters and others who are good at numbers.
Each one is born with specific talents.
63. You cannot create thousands of universities or hundreds of thousands of teachers, but with technology and the Internet you can have excellent courses and create a digital university.
About the future of training.
64. The artistic part of all of us, I think the easiest way to appreciate this, is through architecture. The architecture is very impressive; the beauty of buildings, temples.
His passion for architectural art.
65. It is a society of knowledge and experience. You have better experience and knowledge when you are 60, 65 and 70 years old.
Great reflection on valuing the experience.
66. In business, you invest when things are not in good shape. When you invest now, you put yourself in a better position than your competitors. When there is a recession and your competition does not invest, they are giving you an advantage.
Take advantage of these small concessions.
67. You can’t live without doing something.
You must always stay active.
68. It is important to give your children a better country, but it is more important to give your nation better children.
Important reflection.
69. I still have my laptop but I haven’t used it. I am a paper man, not electronic.
It seems unbelievable that a financial genius still uses the computer.
70. When you are convinced of what to do and what you should do, it is not difficult to do that.
Self-confidence, an essential part of business.
71. Wealth is an instrument to create well-being in a society.
A humanistic way of conceiving the phenomenon of wealth.
72. I made my children an investment account and they don’t use it. Because they understand that they shouldn’t have things just for the sake of having them.
Carlos Slim is an example of a businessman and also a father, who taught his children essential values.
73. The United States is a very important country, not only for America but for the entire world.
His relationship with his neighbor to the north was always close.
74. Our challenge is to promote the development of our countries (Latin America) and I am interested in creating new companies that help achieve that goal.
One of the great challenges that Slim has faced in recent decades.
75. Bad times can be present opportunities.
A phrase that can be applied to any area of life.
76. The fruit of wealth is income
With this maxim, Slim has created one of the largest fortunes on the planet.
77. Since I started seriously with business in ’65, I have been involved in many activities.
This has been, in part, the key to its success.
78. I am not radical, I think that if my children want to follow my path it will be fine and if not that will be fine.
Like any good father, Slim only wants the best for his children.
79. My family always comes first.
Throughout his entire career, Slim has always shown himself to be a family man who values family well-being above all.
80. Several years ago, when I was involved in a big business, I gathered my children and asked them what they thought about participating in something bigger together. The youngest responded: “If you are going to see you, yes, if not, we are going to be with you, no.”
A nice anecdote that shows us how united the Slim family is.
