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 on Thursday to donate 250,000 low-cost laptops to children by the end of the year and as many as 1 million next year, 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 US$53 billion, but some financial analysts say he may have overtaken Microsoft founder Bill Gates as the world's richest.
PHOTO: AP
Speaking to foreign correspondents on Thursday, Slim said the ranking meant little to him.
"That's water off a duck's back to me," Slim said. "I don't know if that [the ranking] is correct, if I'm first, 20th, or 2,000th. It doesn't matter. It's all the same."
"I think that what's important is to see that a professional or business activity isn't incompatible with personal or family life," he said.
He also expressed no interest in competing with Gates in philanthropy, saying he hoped their efforts would "complement each other." The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has channeled its efforts into reducing hunger and fighting disease in developing countries.
Slim said he wants to focus on building specialized preschools, handing out computers and supporting health care.
He said he would devote about US$70 million this year to the low-cost laptop program. With an estimated cost of US$250 to US$300 per machine, Slim would have to devote US$300 million to reach a goal of 1 million per year. He predicted, however, that costs for the machines would fall further.
Slim, who controls Mexico's largest fixed-line telephone company, Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, said the plan would initially put the laptops in libraries and schools, which would eventually give them outright to students.
"The scheme in public libraries would be for them to lend them out, like books," he said, noting his companies would help set up wireless networks to which the machines could connect.
Within four years, he wants to build about 100 "early stimulation" preschools to give poor children training at a young age in math, language and computers.
He said the world economy is experiencing "a stage of world euphoria" of easy credit, and that Latin America should take advantage of that to invest in infrastructure.
Slim said there is no conflict between his role as businessman -- in which he has been criticized for holding a near-monopoly control over the telephone market -- and philanthropist.
"The best investment one can make is to reduce poverty," he said, noting that wealthier citizens are better consumers.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source