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Mexico: Antitrust crackdown bumps Carlos Slim from world’s richest man title

By  |  December 8, 2014

Following Mexico’s recent reinvigoration of antitrust laws, which heavily weighed on the dominance of top telco America Movil, reports say America Movil owner Carlos Slim is no longer the world’s richest man.

That title now belongs to Bill Gates; close behind is Warren Buffet, according to Forbes data. Reports say that while several of Buffet’s acquisitions have made record profits this year, America Movil shares continue to drop as Mexico’s antitrust and telco regulation reform leads to forced divestitures for the telco.

The reform allowed officials to declare America Movil dominance and, in turn, require the company to sell assets to reduce its market share to under 50 percent. The new laws also require America Movil to reduce fees and share infrastructure with rivals.

While Slim’s America Movil holds 70 percent of the wireless market and 80 percent of Mexican landlines, reports say divestitures could go beyond Mexico’s boarders and into the US. AT&T and SoftBank are both potential bidders for the assets, earlier reports say.

Full content: Forbes

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