is now worth 53.1 billion, and has thus replaced Warren Buffet (52.4 billion) as the world's second richest man. This puts Slim less than four billion dollars away from the world's richest man Bill Gates,at 56 billion.

When Forbes published its annual billionaire list (issue of March 8th, 2007) Buffet had $52 billion and Slim had $49 billion. But since then, Slim's Carso Grupo Telecom increased its value by 15%, and Slim's America Movil increased by 4% after announcing a move into the Italian telecoms market. This bumped Slim's worth up to $53.1 billion dollars, making him the second wealthiest man on the planet.

Such wealth in the hands of a Mexican could be an employment-creating asset for Mexico. And yet, despite all of Carlos Slim's billions, the Mexican Mega-Magnate only provides employment for a quarter of a million Mexicans (in contrast, Wal-mart employs 1.7 million Mexicans in Mexico).

Naturally, Slim's underwhelming contribution to Mexican job creation doesn't stop him from bashing the border fence and lecturing the U.S. on its own immigration policy.