Richest man from Mexico

Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest man, worth an estimated $67.8 billion, after overtaking Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates, according to a respected tracker of Mexican financial wealth.

A 27 per cent surge in the share price of America Movil, Latin America's largest cell phone operator controlled by Slim, from March to June made him close to $8.6 billion wealthier than Mr Gates, said Eduardo Garcia in Sentido Comun, the online financial publication he founded.

Mr Garcia estimated that Mr Gates was worth $59.2 billion. Forbes magazine reported in April that Slim had overtaken billionaire investor Warren Buffett for the No. 2 spot in the world's richest stakes but was still behind Mr Gates.

Mexico has a huge rich-poor divide, with a tiny elite holding most of the country's wealth and around half the population living on less than five dollars a day.

Forbes bumped up Mr Slim because gains from his holding company Carso and fixed-line telecom Telmex added to the Mexican's fortune while shares of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fell in the same period.