Carlos Slim, a press baron in the making

Like many a plutocrat before him, Carlos Slim, the Mexican multi-billionaire, appears intent on entering the newspaper business. It was announced today that Slim, who is said to be worth more than £60bn, has bought a share in the New York Times, paying $127m for a 6.4 per cent stake. This follows a toe-dipping investment earlier this year when he took a one per cent stake in Independent News & Media, which owns Britain’s Independent newspaper.

Both these investments are pocket money to Slim, the portly 67-year-old who is now reckoned to be the richest man on the planet with a personal fortune of some $63bn - more than Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder. His wealth is built on a sprawling Mexico-based telecommunications empire that spans Latin America from the Dominican Republic to Chile, with more than 100 million customers.

Slim, dubbed "The Engineer" by his staff, says he inherited his business nous from his father - Julian Slim Haddad Aglamaza, a Lebanese Christian immigrant who settled in Mexico in 1902 and built up a real estate empire. With his inheritance, Slim invested large in telecommunications companies in the 1990s. He now has a controlling stake in the national telephone network, Telmex, which controls more than 90 per cent of fixed line services around the country, as well as the majority of internet connections.

Unlike other mega-wealthy Mexican families, whose gaudy mansions and partying children fill the society gossip magazines, neither Slim nor his three sons and son-in-law - who have all joined the family firm - are known for extravagance. However, he doesn’t mind rubbing along with the rich and famous. He counts Pele, Rudy Giuliani and Gabriel Garcia Marquez among his friends. He is also known for his art collection, which includes Rodin sculptures and paintings by Renoir, Degas, Monet and Van Gogh, many of which he displays at his private gallery in Mexico City set up as a memorial to his wife, who died in 1999.

In Mexico he is known for his philanthropy – only in March he announced he would be increasing his donations to charity from $4bn to $10bn in the next four years. ·