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AMLO Says Billionaire Carlos Slim Is Looking to Retire Soon

AMLO Says Billionaire Carlos Slim Is Looking to Retire Soon

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s richest man is looking to retire within the next five years, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Carlos Slim told him.

Billionaire Slim, 79, "wants to end his business life by contributing to economic growth and well-being during this administration", the president said, adding he might be committing an "indiscretion" by revealing his plans, he said during his morning presser Tuesday.

AMLO Says Billionaire Carlos Slim Is Looking to Retire Soon

Slim spokesman Arturo Elias Ayub said in a tweet that the billionaire and the president talked about how they both have nearly six years of intense work ahead of them to boost the country due to Lopez Obrador’s term and Slim’s age.

Slim’s $56.6 billion empire includes America Movil SAB, the largest mobile-phone operator in Latin America, and holdings in banking and mining. He also has stakes in publicly traded companies like The New York Times. Through Grupo Carso, he also has interests in the Mexican construction company and was heavily invested in the now-canceled $13 billion Mexico City airport.

America Movil’s shares were little changed on Tuesday, trading at 13.99 pesos in Mexico City.

Carlos Slim has been Chairman Emeritus at America Movil since 2005 and sits on the board of Grupo Carso and other businesses. In press conferences he holds from time to time, he has shown he’s still involved in his businesses’ larger decisions and strategies. Daily management of his companies has largely fallen on his sons and immediate family over the past few years.

--With assistance from Cyntia Barrera Diaz.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Navarro in Mexico City at anavarro30@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Priscilla Murphy

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