World’s richest man, Carlos Slim, threatened with mobile empire break-up

The world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, is under new regulatory threat from lawmakers following new legislation in Mexico that could potentially cause a partial break-up of his America Movil empire.

Currently, Slim’s business empire controls around 70% of the mobile market and 80% of all landlines in Mexico.

However, Bloomberg reports President Enrique Pena Nieto is backing legislation that would see the creation of a new regulatory agency, as well as the lifting of foreign investment caps in the broadcast media and telecommunications sectors.

“This reform allows growth possibilities. But to achieve this, companies will have to invest and innovate, offer better prices and improve their quality of service,” Nieto says.

While opposed to a possible break-up of its Mexican business, America Movil supports the lifting of foreign investment limits.

“We support the opening of foreign investment in telecommunications services. We compete in 18 countries where we benefit from this type of policy of openness to investment, and we’ve always supported such openness,” America Movil states.