'Warren Buffett of Mexico' Visits The Valley To Discuss International Trade

By Kristena Hansen
Published: Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 10:57pm
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Carlos Slim Helu, one of the richest people in the world, visited the Valley on Wednesday to discuss the importance of trade between Arizona and Mexico and offer solutions to modern society.

The room at the downtown Phoenix Sheraton hotel was packed with several hundred people when the event — the first as part of the Global Markets Discovery Series hosted by the Phoenix Business Journal, Arizona Commerce Authority, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, among others — kicked off with Mexico’s national anthem.

The keynote speaker was Carlos Slim, who is often called the "Warren Buffett of Mexico," a self-made billionaire with a family net worth of $75 billion.

Slim was introduced by Gov. Doug Ducey, who said the Arizona-Mexico relationship is critical to growing the state’s economy internationally.

Slim also emphasized the importance of strengthening the trade relationship between Arizona and Mexico. But he spent more time offering his solutions to improving as a modern society overall, such as shifting to a three-day work week and retiring later in life.

“They will work less days, more hours per day, and more years. Instead of retiring at 55, 60, 65, like it’s a society of knowledge, it’s not a society of physical work,” he said. “People need to retire older, to have more knowledge, more experience.”

He also gave the room a history lesson of society’s evolution and how the past has shaped today’s modern issues, which is what stood out most to people such as Jim Lundy, president and CEO of Alliance Bank of Arizona.

“He wove all that together with a message that he thinks, going forward, the connectivity of human beings is the thread that he sees throughout the major stages of human history,” Lundy said. “And as we go forward the connectivity of human beings lays at sort of the foundation of future society. He emphasized that in order to continue to progress, it’s very important to make fundamental investments in education, in health care, in telecommunication.”

Slim’s roots are in the telecommunications industry. He is currently CEO of global conglomerate Grupo Carso, and has business experience and investments in a variety of industries and companies, such as The New York Times, of which he is the largest single shareholder.

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