Warren Buffett used to talk about finding oligopolies which is why he liked newspaper companies like Washington Post and advertising companies. His concept of the moat has been talked about quite a lot- Morningstar even has a newsletter that tries to identify stocks that have strong moats. However, the concept can be somewhat elusive- Coke for example was supposed to have a moat but it is down since Buffett bought in I believe. And the moat around newspapers turned out to have less value with the modern weaponry of the Internet acting as a catapult to lob large stones at Warren Buffett and other investors. Carlos Slim has had real monopolies pretty much which is perhaps why he has moved ahead.

It's very interesting , of course, studying the great investors and probably more productive than chasing hot stocks that have moved up a lot- something none of the great giant investors do very much.

Many items on billionaire investors from Warren Buffett and Eddie Lampert and Carl Icahn to Nelson Peltz and Carlos Slim, including some just posted items are available in the Billionaire Watch section (yellow label, top) at http://www.Barrelomoney.com.

You must be Italiano

I'm not a billionaire, but I eat better than
any billionaire.

Chef Alfred

Mr. Slims fortune is only possible because of the politically unfair and socially unbalanced economy of Mexico...it will exist for a while until the nation catches up on its relatively new democratic values.

Sergio,

WSJ article discussed the fact that Carlos Slim has so much power there won't be any way to regulate any of his companies while he is alive. However, when he dies, there may be better controls.

Yo creo que cualquier persona que logre ese "status" tiene que tener algo de inteligencia,integridad y conocimientos financieros,(aparte de un buen olfato para los negocios),no creo que sea facil para alguien lograr lo que el ha logrado, eso se admira, lo que no le admiro, es que hay gente que no es mexicana y ha ayudado mucho mas a Mexico que el,gente que no ha hecho su fortuna basandose en la pobreza e ignorancia del pueblo mexicano.
Cual era el valor real de Telmex cuando lo compro?
pdria decirlo??

It's too bad to see such vast injustice in Mexico economy that allows for such wealth concentration in one person. The good news is the next generation of Mexico will not and can not allow this monopoly condition to exist. The alternative is Slim will own 100% of the country and its hardly acceptable.

I don't think that Carlos Slim is an ordinary man, but he is absolutely not a "business genius" or an example for entrepreneurs as he's often praised by the pompous Mexican media. His main coup was to pull his influence and political connections to acquire Telmex, his cash cow monopoly that provides a steady and seemingly endless source of funding. From this he has been able to purchase and invest in technology and grow his companies with relative ease.

I don't see him slowing down as long as he's under the cover of Mexico's government, but if Mexico's economy were to collapse when oil reserves run out in about 10 years as projected recently, then he'll probably make a move out of here. This is probably why he's "invested" in the Clinton foundation as opposed to doing some real solid work to help the 40 million mexicans living in extreme poverty that are indirectly helping him be the richest man alive.

i really feel happy and proud to hear or read about men like Mr Carlos Slim and it is nonsense out of jalousie to critisise in a bad way such person instead of learning from him and supporting him ethically..........

This man is great