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The rocky, rickety boat that is the New York times has long been in peril of sinking. Now the Times staffers have sent a letter to publisher Arthur Sulzberger expressing "profound dismay" at the direction the company is headed. Huffington Post: The letter calls attention to several grievances. Last week, Times brass notified foreign citizens employed in the paper's overseas bureaus that their pensions would be frozen. In the letter, Times staffers dismayed by this decision point out to Sulzberger that some of these foreign employees, working alongside Times reporters in war zones, have "risked their lives so that we...

When it comes to the race for money, Carlos Slim Helú, the world’s richest man, has surged even further into the lead. The Mexican billionaire accumulated an additional $20.5 billion over the last year, bringing his total fortune to $74 billion, according the Forbes annual rankings of the world’s billionaires. Mr. Slim has held the top spot since last year, when he pushed aside the two past leaders, Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett. Still, both men added $3 billion to their wealth since the last Forbes billionaires survey. Mr. Gates, the richest man in the United States, is worth...

Every so often, rumors pop up that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is going to buy The New York Times Co., in which he already owns nearly a 7% stake. And then those rumors quickly get stamped down by Slim, but not before making some waves in the stock market. It just happened again today, and Times Co. shares rose as much as 8% as a result, according to Bloomberg: "Almost 6,400 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 35 times the four-week average and five times the number of puts to sell... ...The publisher’s stock rose 26 cents, or 3.4...

Mexico’s Carlos Slim beat Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for the top spot on Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires, becoming the first person from outside the U.S. to lead the rankings in 16 years. The net worth of Slim, 70, who built a telecommunications empire after buying Mexico’s state-run phone monopoly two decades ago, rose $18.5 billion to $53.5 billion. Gates, 54, chairman of Microsoft Corp., fell to second as his net worth increased $13 billion to $53 billion. Buffett, 79, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., was third with $47 billion, a rise of $10 billion. Slim is the...

The Story the New York Times Won't Touch By James Ledbetter Posted Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 12:09pm A little more than a year ago, when the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim increased his stake in the New York Times Company (NYT), I wrote "I pity the Times Mexico bureau chief who has to tiptoe through who is and isn't out of favor with the paper's new sugar daddy." Now we have a very clear example of how the Times treats Slim within its pages; it's not pretty, and the journalistic compromise can be seen well beyond Mexico. For the last...

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu isn't just one of The New York Times Co.'s creditors anymore -- he's now one of their biggest stockholders, according to a Security and Exchange Commission filing Friday. Slim exercised warrants for 15.9 million in Class A shares for a strike price of $6.3572 through his companies Inmobiliaria and GFI, raising his stake in the Times Co. to 16.3% from 6.9% at the time he was approached to loan a substantial sum to the venerable publisher. Slim got the warrants in January 2009 when he lent the Times Co. $250 million. The company said that...

The New York Times must be getting increasingly desperate. The publisher of the Times, Arthur Sulzberger, writes a paean in Time Magazine to Carlos Slim, the billionaire Mexican monopolist who threw the flailing Times a lifeline via a 250 million dollar loan earlier in the year. This is a man who has set back development in Mexico by his monopoly (or near monopoly) of the telecommunications system in that nation. He has been milking his profits for decades, blocking technological development of competitors by using his influence with politicians. The Times has historically derided this type of crony capitalism, especially...

I recently had the great pleasure of meeting Carlos Slim. He had decided to invest in the New York Times Co. and thought it would be a good idea to get to know me and my senior colleagues. It was obvious from the moment we met that he was a true Times loyalist. We had an enjoyable conversation about what was happening in this country and everywhere else in the world. Carlos, a very shrewd businessman with an appreciation for great brands, showed a deep understanding of the role that news, information and education play in our interconnected global society....

Millions of first-time credit card holders remade Mexico in recent years, buying everything from diapers to DVD players on credit and spurring a boom in consumer spending and bank profits. Many now regret it: With interest rates, commissions and fees topping 100 percent a year, delinquencies have soared as the global economic crisis boosts unemployment and leads banks to raise rates even more. Among the unlikely suspects supporting rate reductions is Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who in December called credit card interest rates "unsustainable, and in the majority of cases, unpayable." Slim's own bank, Inbursa, offers a card for preferred...

Sure it’s for a life-saving loan, but the New York Times [NYT] Co.’s decision to do business with controversial Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu is seen by some as a deal with the devil. “He has a mixed reputation on his best day,” Douglas A. McIntyre, editor of 24/7 Wall St., a financial commentary service, said about Slim, one of the world’s richest men. Borrowing money from a man that the Times called a robber baron and a thief in 2007 shows that finding someone to invest in the newspaper “must have been very, very hard,” McIntyre said. Late Monday,...

MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's decision to loan the New York Times $250 million gives a vote of confidence to a debt-strapped publisher at a time when the financial viability of print is being widely questioned in the age of the Internet. The New York Times Co. (NYT) said Tuesday it will use the money to refinance existing debt, but also continues to seek other financing and will press ahead with cost-cutting measures. Slim's move to expand his involvement with the Times raised some eyebrows given difficulties faced by newspaper publishers seeing double-digit declines in advertising revenue.

New York Times Co (NYT.N) shares fell on Tuesday after the company agreed to a pricey $250 million loan from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim that it will use to repay debt coming due in May. -snip- "Frankly, New York Times should be pleased they were able to get this financing at all, in our view, given all the pressures going against the company," Barclays Capital analyst Craig Huber wrote in a note to investors. "Nevertheless, the interest rate is very expensive on an absolute basis and is not a good sign for peer newspaper companies should they try to follow...

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A Latin American billionaire looks to expand his empire in the United States in a deal that could make him the largest shareholder of The New York Times Co. [snip] "By having a stake in the New York Times, he's basically projecting himself as a powerbroker in this country, regardless of how his investment does," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a senior associate of the Center For Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. [snip] The Times said Slim would buy six-year notes in the company with warrants that are convertible to common shares. The notes carry...

New York Times Co. reached an agreement under which companies backed by the Mexican telecom investor Carlos Slim will invest $250 million and could boost their holding, helping the New York media company reduce its debt and strengthen its finances. -snip- The notes have what the Journal called a relatively rich coupon of 14.053%

New York Times Co. may be turning to a $US250 million ($372 million) investment from billionaire Carlos Slim as credit markets dry up and the newspaper industry confronts plummeting ad revenue. Slim, the world's second-richest man according to Forbes magazine, is in discussions to buy 10-year notes convertible into common stock in the newspaper company and may receive a special annual dividend as high as 10% on his investment, the Times reported yesterday, citing people briefed on the talks. New York Times has slashed its dividend and is pursuing asset sales to shore up cash. Meanwhile, it's racing to pay...

The New York Times appears to be on the verge of signing a deal with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to invest $250 million in the company. If your last name is "Sulzberger," be concerned. News of Slim's possible investment broke over the weekend, and now the Times itself says an announcement could come as soon as tomorrow. Slim, one of the world's richest people, would essentially be loaning the struggling newspaper a quarter of a billion dollars in exchange for convertible shares paying him high annual dividends. But he would have the right to convert that stock into common shares—and...

The rumors about Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim investing in The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) are heating up. Andrew Ross Sorkin reports that Slim is near a deal to invest up to $250 million in a deal that could be approved by the company's board of directors today. According to Sorkin, "As part of Mr. Slim's investment, which resembles a loan, he is expected to get a special annual dividend, perhaps as high as 10 percent or more on this investment, these people said." What is interesting is that Mr. Slim is not set to receive any control of...

The New York Times Co. is in discussions with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim about investing in the newspaper publisher to help ease its financial problems, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are ongoing and may yet fall apart but one of the options being discussed is a preferred-stock issue. Under this scenario, the Times Co. would issue Mr. Slim preferred stock, which carries no voting right but pays an annual dividend, in return for his investment. The investment would be similar to a loan. Preferred shares are often convertible into common stock after a defined period. snip...

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim may invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the New York Times Co (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), giving the ailing U.S. newspaper publisher critical financial help, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday. The Times might give the telecommunications tycoon, who already owns a 6.4 percent stake in the Times, preferred stock with no voting rights, but with an annual dividend.

Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim Helú, the world’s second richest man, has become the third largest outside shareholder of the New York Times, after reporting a 6.4 per cent stake worth $127m. The purchase, disclosed in a US regulatory filing on Wednesday, comes months after Harbinger Capital Partners purchased close to 20 per cent of the publisher of the namesake newspaper and the Boston Globe and launched a proxy war for board seats. Arturo Elías Ayub, Mr Slim’s son-in-law and the communications director of Mr Slim’s Carso Group, told the FT on Wednesday that they started buying the stock a...

Excerpt - NEW YORK (AFP) — US financier Warren Buffett has overtaken Bill Gates as the world's richest man, according to Forbes annual billionaire's list, which this year saw Russia, China and India making increasing inroads. Buffett, the 77-year-old chief of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company, saw his wealth jump from 52 billion dollars last year to 62 billion, pushing Microsoft co-founder Gates into third position after 13 years at the top. Mexico's telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu grabbed second place with a tidy nest egg of 60 billion dollars, up from 49 billion last year. ~ snip ~

Excerpt - CompUSA Inc. said it has been sold to Gordon Brothers Group, a restructuring firm that will wind-down the retailer's operations and sell off its assets. Financial terms were not disclosed. Dallas-based CompUSA, which is controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, said its 103 retail stores will remain open and staffed during the holiday season as it works to sell off some stores and its Internet operations. The company has struggled with increased competition and had been looking at stratetgic alternatives. ~ snip ~

Growing up in Mexico City, I always knew Mexico was an unjust country - a place where small coteries of the privileged control all power and wealth while half the population lives in poverty. But it never occurred to me that Mexico would have billionaires. It does. According to Forbes magazine, last year there were 10 Mexicans among the world's 946 billionaires. That might not seem out of line in a country with 100 million-plus people, which accounts for about 1.6 percent of the global economy. But here's what takes the cake, especially if you're Mexican like me. Earlier this...

Carlos Slim is Mexico's Mr. Monopoly. It's hard to spend a day in Mexico and not put money in his pocket. The 67-year-old tycoon controls more than 200 companies -- he says he's "lost count" -- in telecommunications, cigarettes, construction, mining, bicycles, soft-drinks, airlines, hotels, railways, banking and printing. In all, his companies account for more than a third of the total value of Mexico's leading stock market index, while his fortune represents 7% of the country's annual economic output. (At his height, John D. Rockefeller's wealth was equal to 2.5% of U.S. gross domestic product.) As one Mexico...

A small leftist guerrilla group claimed responsibility for a homemade bomb that exploded outside a Sears store and another left outside a U.S.-owned bank in southern Mexico. The statement by the People's Revolutionary Army, or EPR, said the action was intended "to hit the interests of Mexican and foreign oligarchy." It was posted late Wednesday, hours after the blast, on a Web site that serves as clearinghouse for Latin American leftist and guerrilla groups. EPR statements with similar language and style have been posted there in the past. The bomb caused no injuries but damaged an entrance to the Sears...

Billionaire Carlos Slim said he doesn't care if he is the world's richest man and promised to donate hundreds of thousands of laptop computers to Mexican children. The Mexican telecom mogul pledged Thursday to donate 250,000 low-cost laptops to children by the end of the year and as many as 1 million in 2008, saying "digital education" holds the key for Mexico's poor. Slim is listed by Forbes as the world's second-richest man with holdings worth $53 billion, but some financial analysts say he may have overtaken Microsoft (MSFT) founder Bill Gates as the world's richest. • Click here for...

Bill Gates has been usurped by Carlos Slim, a Mexican telecoms tycoon, as the world's richest person, a Mexican financial website has claimed. Mr Slim, 67, has amassed personal wealth of $67.8bn (£33.6bn), the Sentido Comun revealed in its Who's Who business rich-list published yesterday. More than half of his wealth can be attributed to his 33pc holding in mobile phone group America Movil, worth $36.2bn.

Wealth: Mexico's Carlos Slim has surpassed Bill Gates as the world's richest man. As the kvetching starts about why Slim is so rich from a place so poor, the real issue is why his country doesn't have more like him. We can already hear the grousing about how Slim could amass a $68 billion fortune in country where the average income is $6,700 a year and one of seven workers has fled to the U.S. to work illegally. And Slim's net worth is impressive, no matter how it's viewed. For example, it amounts to 8% of Mexico's annual economic output,...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates looks to have lost his title as the world's richest man, toppled from top spot by the Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim. Three months ago the cigar-chomping Mr Slim quietly slipped past legendary US investor Warren Buffett to take second place in the global wealth league. Now, thanks to a surge in the shares of his America Movil group, Mr Slim has claimed pole position, according to the Mexican online financial publication, Sentido Común. It was Sentido Común's founder, Eduardo Garcia, who highlighted Mr Slim's rapidly rising wealth in April, although by his calculations the Mexican...

Mexico's Supreme Court overturned a key provision of a law designed to preserve the dominance of the nation's two television giants, Grupo Televisa SAB and TV Azteca SAB, marking a new willingness by Mexico's government to check the power of corporate dynasties. In issuing the ruling, justices expressed concern that the media duopoly had stifled competition to the detriment of the national interest, suggesting that the Mexican judiciary may become more proactive in seeking to foster competition in industries historically controlled by one or two players. The ruling must be ratified in a second vote, expected soon....

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this week released its yearly review of telecom agreements negotiated with trading partners. In what is becoming an annual ritual, American officials once again reserved special criticism for Mexico's telecom market. USTR is upset about a new system for terminating international long distance calls to Mexico that shifts all the costs to U.S. callers. But what really has them steamed is that Mexico's carriers negotiated interconnection rates even higher than those recommended by the Mexico's Federal Telecommunications Commission, known as COFETEL. The upshot is that U.S. carriers will end up paying $124 million...

A popular saying in Mexico goes like this: You can't get out of bed in the morning without putting money into Carlos Slim's pocket. Carlos Slim Helú, 67, is el jefe of the Mexican telecommunications industry. He is probably the richest man most Americans have never heard of. That may soon change. In Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the world's richest, released last month, Slim was third. Since then, Forbes estimates that Slim added $4.1 billion to his fortune, surpassing super-investor Warren E. Buffett (while now trailing Gates by about as much). Some Fun Facts about Slim: *His Carso Global...

Mexico's Communications and Transport Secretary Luis Téllez (SCT.gob.mx) told Federal Communications (COFETEL.gob.mx) members and industry representatives that greater competition (in the telecommunications sector) would allow more Mexicans access to opportunities provided by new technologies. "Letting this new technology remain in just a few selective hands is something we do not want and are not going to allow," Téllez said. Teléfonos de México SA, or Telmex, owned by the world´s second-richest man, billionaire Carlos Slim, controls more than 90 percent of the nation´s fixed phone lines, while his América Móvil SA provides about 70 percent of cell-phone service in Mexico. Telmex...

Below is a NONpropietary documented list of some noteworthy differences between Mexico's and the USA's immigration regulatory legal schemes. Please feel free to use its contents in any altruistic way that you like. The contents of this article do not necessarily reflect the views of those who run these bilingual Mexico directories, but the desire for prosperity in Mexico is shared by all who are involved in maintaining these directories as well as this legal analysis. There are probably under 100,000 U.S. born American citizens in Mexico and by some estimates as many as 20 million Mexico-born Mexicans in the...

The Mexico City government signed an agreement Monday with a Chinese telecommunications firm, ZTE, that is intended to provide free wireless internet throughout the city in 2008...The idea is that ZTE will now establish a subsidiary in Mexico City that will in turn create jobs. The agreement provides for the creation of a wireless network that can be accessed free of charge from anywhere in the capital city.

MEXICO CITY — The world's third-richest man, Carlos Slim, is gaining rapidly on Bill Gates and Warren Buffet with a fortune that grew $19 billion last year — the largest wealth gain in the past decade tracked by Forbes magazine. It's also a sign of the wealth gap in Mexico's monopoly-laden economy. Since Slim bought the telephone monopoly in a 1991 privatization, he's used Telmex as a cash cow to build an empire that includes Latin America's largest mobile phone company; provides banking, brokerage and Internet services; sells insurance and oil industry equipment; and operates retail stores and restaurants. But...

MEXICO CITY, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the third-richest tycoon in the world, may sell his loss-making U.S. retail business CompUSA, a director of one of Slim's companies said on Thursday. Jorge Serrano, director of investor relations of Slim's conglomerate Grupo Carso (GCARSOA1.MX: Quote, Profile, Research), told Reuters one company had shown interest in Dallas-based CompUSA, which sells computers, televisions and other electronics products. "It is being evaluated," Serrano said of the possible sale of CompUSA, which was bought by a unit of Carso in March 2000 for $800 million. "Different alternatives are always being analyzed to...

The powerful family of Carlos Slim - the world's third richest man, with a $30 billion fortune - bought a huge stake in Spanish-language television giant Univision .....It signals that the Slim family, which owns several Latin American companies, could be planning to participate in a buyout of Univision or is trying to block a takeover by another suitor. Slim purchased 8.5 million Univision shares between March 9 and March 20...... The family now controls about 2.8 percent of Univision's outstanding shares through its real estate company, Inmobiliaria Carso. Carlos Slim's son sits on the board of Mexican company Grupo...

2:00PM Slim signals intention to lift stake in Global Crossing (GLBCE) by Mark Cotton NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Shares of Global Crossing (GLBCE) soared 26.5 percent to 52-week high of $14.11 after Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and his family signaled their intention to raise their stake in the company, in a public filing received by the Vermont Public Service Board on Wednesday. The filing said Slim Entities Holdings, which brings together the various business interests of the Slim family, would be looking to acquire "an amount greater than 10 percent, but less than 20 percent" of Global Crossing shares. Late...

<p>Carlos Slim, Latin America's Richest Man, Seeks More in U.S. Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The crowd began to stir as Carlos Slim, dressed in a beige cotton suit and chocolate-brown loafers, strolled into the ballroom of Miami's Biltmore Hotel on a hot summer day this past July.</p>

Could Mexican Carlos Slim Helu owner of CompUSA, the 17th richest man in the world be sitting on some of my $20 rebate money for itmes that seem to require an endless amount of tedious chores? I wish SOMEONE would tell the retailers just to give us some discounts at the cash register, and skip all of this rebate junk.