Health, Education, and Opportunity

An Interview with Carlos Slim Domit, Chairman, Grupo Carso, Grupo Sanborns, and Telmex

EDITORS’ NOTE Carlos Slim Domit typical corporate structure. Each CEO We were also able to develop many new, also serves as Co-Chairman of is extremely dedicated to the company innovative ideas for the industry that were América Móvil’s Board of Directors. he works at and has a deep under- key to our success. One of the most important He graduated from the Universidad standing of its day-to-day operations, ideas was my father’s development of the pre- Anáhuac with a degree in Business as well as the long-term strategy driv- paid model in mobile service. This has proven Administration. In 1989, Slim ing those operations. We operate in to be a key driver for penetration of mobile Domit joined Sanborn Brothers as very competitive markets and our suc- phones worldwide and, today, around 70 per- Assistant Director of the Wholesale cess comes from providing excellent cent of the global mobile industry operates on Division and was named Board customer service at every level within that model. Member of Grupo Carso. In 1991, each of our companies. I like to place The second element was to move from a he was the Director of Calinda my focus on working with the teams telephone company to a complete-solution Hotels, and became a member of the on long-term strategies that ensure our Telecom, which requires great effort, both inter- Board of Directors and Executive Carlos Slim Domit dedication to the customer and the de- nally and externally. Today, we feel very proud Director for Sanborn Brothers in velopment of our companies. Those to have been part of what Telmex and América 1993. Since 1995, he has been a member of the strategies are driven by principles of maximiz- Móvil have achieved. It is the best example I Board of Directors of Telmex. From 1997 to ing effi ciency, investing and reinvesting prof- have seen of a company completely transform- 1999, he served as the Executive Director its, continuously training our employees, and ing itself in such a competitive and capital- of Sears Roebuck of Mexico and, in 1999, as innovation. intensive market that is constantly subject to Executive Director and Chairman of the Board Telmex has consistently been the leader technological changes and driven by customer of Directors at Grupo Sanborns. In 1998, he was in the market, and is known for quality and service. named Chairman of the Board of Directors of service. What makes Telmex so special and We’re also aware that along with provid- Grupo Carso and Vice President of the Board of has allowed it to maintain such a strong ing these services comes a huge responsibility Telmex in 1999. He currently is COB of Grupo leadership position for so many years? to our customers: fi rst, because Telecom is the Carso, Grupo Sanborns, and Telmex, and Co- When Telmex was privatized, around 16 nervous system of this new era and the access Chairman of América Móvil. Slim Domit is a national and international corporations partici- point to all its information and opportunities; member of various social organizations such as pated in the bid. In the end, there were three and second, because of how important it is the Carso Center of Mexican Historical Studies, main groups that went for it. In order to par- for rural and underserved communities to be the Patronage, the “Federico Gómez” Children’s ticipate, Grupo Carso had to make a substantial connected. We want to provide these commu- Hospital of Mexico, and the National Institute IPO to obtain the necessary resources, and work nities with the same services, even if it is not of Nutrition. Internationally, Slim Domit is in- very closely with our partners. Ultimately, the profi table compared to providing services to volved in various notable activities. An avid group integrated by SBS (today ATT), France more competitive urban areas. We also offer a supporter of the auto-racing industry and road- Telecom, and Mexican investors won the bid. low-cost fi nancing program to around 60,000 safety initiatives, he serves as a member of At the time, Telmex lagged in quality and small and medium-size businesses and cus- the Senate of the International Automobile service demand, both locally and internation- tomers, and we’ve seen that many of the cred- Federation (FIA) and actively contributes to ally. There was a huge lack of infrastructure, its are used towards technology upgrades. the FIA’s Action for Road Safety Program. Slim specifi cally in electro-mechanic and analog cen- Through our companies and foundations, we Domit’s philanthropic endeavors also include trals, a service-delivery backlog of nearly three take great pride in providing digital connec- EveryoneOn.org’s national Connect2Compete years, terrible customer-service ratings, and very tivity and access to educational services, as campaign. In 2014, the Carlos Slim Foundation low personnel training levels. well as support in areas such as health, envi- launched AccesoLatino.org. The Carlos Slim Back then, the average employee had only ronment, culture, and sports. We also partner Foundation, founded by his father, Carlos Slim completed fi ve years of schooling. Today, that with other foundations and organizations on Helú, is the largest philanthropic foundation in number is 16 years. particular initiatives. Latin America and has benefi ted nearly 30 mil- In mobile, we started a year behind our Finally, it’s about pricing. Telmex and lion people to date (fundacioncarlosslim.org). competitor with only a 35 percent market share. América Móvil prices have decreased more In order to tackle these problems, we fi rst than 80 percent since the privatization, and our You serve as Chairman of a number of lead- set up an emergency program called the Triennial rates are among the lowest in the OECD to- ing companies, including Telmex, América plan. In just three years, we were able to reverse day, even when applying PPP parameters that Móvil, Grupo Carso, and Sanborns. Would the downward trend by focusing more attention set the rate at around seven pesos per dollar you highlight the strengths and leadership on the company’s operations, and improved ef- (current exchange rate is around 15 pesos of these organizations, and how you focus fi ciency on all levels. We made substantial invest- per dollar). We achieved this mainly through your efforts? ments in training, state-of-the-art technology, and the efficiency that came from changing the The best assets that companies have are updates in infrastructure. Since the privatization way the company operates and through very the teams leading them, and it is a privilege occurred, we have invested around $49 billion in intensive investment in areas of moderniza- for me to be a part of them. We do not have a Mexico’s telecom industry. tion and productivity. 26 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2015 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 38, NUMBER 2 Philanthropy, corporate responsibil- We also developed “Capacítate para el Mexico, provided tens of thousands of wheel- ity, and community engagement are a criti- empleo,” a job-training platform that currently chairs to people in need, and completed more cal part of the culture of Telmex. Would you offers 34 online courses in areas such as hos- than one million basic surgeries for people who discuss how deeply rooted this is to the cul- pitality services, construction, and technical live in remote areas and over 8,100 organ trans- ture of the company? support. Courses are certifi ed and take approxi- plants for underprivileged individuals. Our philanthropic work comes from per- mately three months to complete. In just over We developed CLIKISalud.net, an online sonal involvement, The Carlos Slim Foundation, eight months, we see more than 100,000 people platform that offers quality information and and within the companies. It has always been in 21 countries studying through this platform. tools on different health topics, along with ad- part of our family’s principles. My father has We recently started a number of strategies to vice on how to live a healthier lifestyle. been very clear that wealth generated by the link graduates in Mexico to the job market. We are funding health research so that business community creates a responsibility Within the healthcare sector, universal ac- Mexican scientists and researchers from top in- to become involved in the solutions to large- cess to quality care and new, innovative treat- ternational institutions can collaborate and fi nd scale social problems. The foundation started ments are a top priority for us. In Mexico and breakthrough medical solutions to improve the with an initial installment from personal, non- Latin America, there is a lack of access to qual- health of Latin America’s population, specifi cally deductible funds of around $4.5 billion, but it ity services for the underprivileged, so through through Genomic Medicine and the development does not place limits on resources for programs public/private partnerships and the use of tech- of new vaccines to prevent tropical diseases. that we work on. nology and innovative models, we are working One joint research project between the Social work is done on different levels. For to close that gap. foundation and the Broad Institute has already specifi c issues, we support the work of other detected the gene that causes cases of kidney philanthropic entities, organizations, or indi- disease as well as brain and breast cancer, and viduals. These projects have to meet specifi c the gene that makes Latin populations up to criteria in order to be considered successful, and 50 percent more vulnerable to diabetes than our main objective is to help them scale-up so American and European populations. We’re cur- that they can help more people. Still, we fi rmly rently fi guring out how to best use this informa- believe that philanthropy, while extremely The Carlos Slim tion to prevent these diseases. important, lessens but does not completely The Carlos Slim Foundation also joined Bill eradicate poverty. The only way to eradicate Foundation also joined Gates, Michael Bloomberg, and others in a pledge poverty is through access to the training and to forever eradicate polio from the world. opportunity that leads to employment. In addition, the foundation works to pro- To seize these opportunities, people need Bill Gates, Michael tect our environment. Through a partnership to fi rst have access to health and education. We with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we sup- also take a business-like approach in the way port dozens of projects throughout Mexico. that we study problems, make decisions, and Bloomberg, and We promote culture as well. Since opening apply all the resources needed to achieve spe- its doors four years ago, the Soumaya Museum cifi c goals. Economic support is not enough: has received more than four million visitors We need to be creative and strategic, and make others in a pledge who have been able to enjoy world-class art projects accountable in order to reach better, exhibits and cultural events free of charge. more lasting solutions. to forever eradicate Among our social development efforts, we There is so much need around educa- have developed programs such as the Telmex tion, health, poverty, sustainability, and the (Soccer) Cup, which has been offi cially named environment. How are the companies’ phil- polio from the world. the largest amateur sporting event in the world, anthropic efforts focused and how do you with more than 210,000 boys and girls par- decide which areas to support, and where ticipating each year. Programs for baseball, to commit resources? basketball, and volleyball are also in place. The Carlos Slim Foundation focuses heav- Additionally, we support international com- ily on education. We have provided around petitions, such as the “Homeless World Cup,” 400,000 scholarships that include the provi- which brings together soccer teams integrated sion of computer equipment, as well as free Through a joint initiative with the Bill by young people living on the street as a fi rst broadband connections and economic support & Melinda Gates Foundation called Salud step to help them climb out of poverty and ad- to underprivileged, high-achieving students. Mesoamerica 2015, we are committed to reduc- diction. We also provide extensive support to We also provide top-notch free connections to ing chronic malnutrition, maternal and infant top Mexican Olympic athletes. over 4,000 digital libraries in underserved com- mortality rates, and the number of children who In 2012, together with the Federal munities throughout Mexico. go without basic, life-saving vaccinations in the Communications Commission, we partnered on On our own and with partners, we have most vulnerable regions of Mexico and Central a project called Connect2Compete, which aims to built world-class education platforms, including America. provide low-income U.S. households and schools the Spanish platform for Khan Academy, where We have developed an innovative model with affordable broadband access. This national currently more than 2.5 million students and for prevention, early detection, and manage- campaign, run by EveryoneOn.org, provides teachers at all levels study math, science, com- ment of chronic diseases such as obesity, dia- broadband access for $9.99 a month to house- puter science, and other subjects; undergraduate betes, and hypertension. Through a partnership holds with school-aged children so they aren’t left and graduate programs in Spanish through part- with Mexico’s Federal and State governments, behind due to a lack of digital access at home. nerships with MIT digital education and Coursera; this model operates in dozens of public-health AccesoLatino.org, an initiative of the Carlos and Academica, a platform that connects more clinics and helps over 12,000 primary healthcare Slim Foundation in collaboration with the for- than 600 public and private universities from the units deliver better health services to millions of eign ministry and Latin American community Americas, which enables thousands of students to people through the use of technology. leaders, aims to help U.S. Latinos achieve better share and use its digital content. We are also promoting the development and more sustainable opportunities for them- Another example is our “Aldea Digital,” of innovative ways to use mobile technology to selves and their families. This free online portal, an annual three-week event that takes place in prevent, detect, and manage preventative and entirely in Spanish, provides access to informa- Mexico City’s main plaza. Last year, more than corrective health issues, as well as the develop- tion and resources in the areas of education, job 258,000 people enjoyed free access to com- ment of new drugs to treat onchocerciasis, also training, civics, and healthcare. Since its August puters and the Internet, and a Guinness World known as “river blindness,” and Chagas disease. 2014 launch, the site has had nearly 200,000 Record was set as the largest digital inclusion The Slim Foundation has donated medi- users, with most of them originating from the event in history. cal equipment to over 350 clinics throughout United States.• VOLUME 38, NUMBER 2 POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2015 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. LEADERS 27