With a net value of over 53 billion dollars, Carlos Slim Helu is now the worlds richest man. Helu is a self made billionaire that has made his fortune in the telecommunications industry. He owns the controlling shares in several Mexican telecommunications companies including the largest one, America Movil. Helu has moved Bill Gates out of the top slot where he has been for the last 14 years.

Helu is the first person from a developing country to be listed as the world’s richest person. While this is a first, other developing nations are starting to show up on the list. For the first time, the amount of billionaires to come from America has dropped. This year only 40% of the list was comprised of Americans. Last year Americans ranked at 45%.

Helu’s telecommunication company dominates all the others in Mexico. He currently controls 80 % of the land lines and nearly the same percentage of the cell phone usage. Many were surprised to see the world’s richest man come from Mexico. Mexico is a country where half of the people live below poverty level. When asked how he felt about this statistic he simply answered that the statistics don’t bother him at all.