On 8 October 2026, the Mexican business magazine Expansión wrote about its 2026 ranking of the 100 most important business people in Mexico. Five of them belong to one family. Carlos Slim Helú, 86, keeps first place. His eldest son, Carlos Slim Domit, is second. His sons Patrick and Marco Antonio are fifth and 29th, and his son-in-law Arturo Elías Ayub is 30th, up from 44th. The magazine’s conclusion: the family’s business power is not concentrated in one person.
“Most important” is the magazine’s judgement, and the article does not explain its method. The board seats behind it can be checked.
Who does what
According to Grupo Carso’s 2025 annual report, dated March 2026, its governance page and Expansión:
- Carlos Slim Helú is honorary chairman for life of América Móvil, Grupo Carso and Telmex. He still chairs the mining company Minera Frisco and the construction group Carso Infraestructura y Construcción.
- Carlos Slim Domit chairs América Móvil, Grupo Carso, Telmex and the retailer Grupo Sanborns.
- Patrick Slim Domit is vice-chairman of América Móvil and Grupo Carso and chief executive of Grupo Sanborns.
- Marco Antonio Slim Domit chairs the financial group Grupo Financiero Inbursa.
- Arturo Elías Ayub, who married into the family, has led communications and institutional relations at Telmex and runs Fundación Telmex. He sits on the Grupo Carso board, and in 2022 he became chairman of Sitios Latinoamérica, the towers company spun off from América Móvil.
A handover that began in 1997
The split is not new. According to CNN’s timeline, Slim had open-heart surgery in 1997 and began passing day-to-day control to his children. In a 2007 interview published on his own website, he said that by the end of 1998 his sons and sons-in-law were at the helm, and he had become honorary chairman for life. Wikipedia gives 1999 in one place and 2003 in another; we follow the sources that give 1997.
Nearly three decades later the founder is still on the boards and still first on the list, but each business has its own family leader: telecoms and the industrial group for the eldest son, with a brother as deputy; finance for another son; towers for a son-in-law. Our post on five common mistakes starts with the missing succession plan. The Slims show one way to make a plan visible: in board seats, long before the founder leaves.
A fair caveat
A ranking of importance is an opinion, not a measure of ownership or wealth. Board titles show formal roles, not how the family really makes decisions or how shares will eventually pass. We could not open América Móvil’s or Inbursa’s own governance pages, so some roles rest on Grupo Carso’s report and press coverage.
What to watch
- Whether the order among the brothers changes in next year’s ranking or at the next annual meetings.
- How the founder’s own shareholdings are eventually passed on, which board titles do not show.
- Whether the founder hands over the two companies he still chairs.
Questions to bring to your advisors
If our founder stepped back tomorrow, does each of our businesses already have a named leader? Do our board titles match how decisions are really made? These are questions to bring to your advisors, not advice.