Carlos� Slim� Helú and the World Bank
Project: The Voyager update project

In order to accomplish our project of successfully having a beacon in space we would need funding, so this week we were asked to look into potential sponsors. I chose Carlos Slim Helú and the World Bank.





Carlos� Slim� Helú

- worth around $50 billion
- holdings span telecom, banking, energy, tobacco and more
- has a "monopoly" in the phone industry with his company Telmex in Mexico as he controls both (Mexico consists largely of monopolies) : 90% of landlines
- he is distrusted and disliked in his country
- he has once again taken an interest in philanthropy
- became rich by buying companies cheap and turning them around
- He gives no accounting of what he has spent and is still vague about where much of the new money will go.
- He is well know for investing in projects early on and reaping monetary benefits from their returns
- "We're making a lot of small investments in technology-related companies so that we can take advantage of the possible synergies"
- "The key is the Internet. The U.S. is by far the most advanced country in this new digital culture, so we have to be there. The Internet is the heart of this new civilization, and telecommunications are the nervous system, or circulatory system. And stores will still be necessary to sell products and services and to teach people how to operate in this new digital civilization."

http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0326/134.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/business/worldbusiness/28slim.html_r=1&oref=slogin
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_08/b3669023.htm



World Bank

- The World Bank offers a limited number of grants to assist development projects, grants that are designed to encourage innovation, co-operation between organizations and to increase local stakeholders' participation in projects
- The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has built up a portfolio of investments in emerging market investment funds representing a commitment of $1 billion in about 100 funds, over 80 percent of which are private equity
- Yes. To be eligible for IFC funding, a project must:
⁃ Be located in a developing country that is a member of IFC
⁃ Be in the private sector
⁃ Be technically sound
⁃ Have good prospects of being profitable
⁃ Benefit the local economy
⁃ Be environmentally and socially sound, satisfying IFC environmental and social standards as well as those of the host country
- Focuses on developing countries, by providing them with "low-interest loans", "interest-free credit", and "grants" to reduce global poverty and improve living standards.

http://web.worldbank.org
http://www.ifc.org/funds/


So after looking into these two potential sources of funding I have decided that neither of them would really meet the needs of our project. Carlos Slim does not seem like a good candidate, though he has money he is not well known to actively participate in any philanthropy or other means of donation. He also is disliked by the people of his own country and holds a virtual monopoly in Mexico, all signs that maybe he would not be the most reliable source of funding. In regards to the World Bank, though I thought that there might be a loophole that we might be able to exploit within the system, after extensive research it turns out that there is really no such thing. They would not be an organization interested in funding our endeavors.

Wed, Feb 13, 2008  Permanent link
Categories: lighthouse
Sent to project: The Voyager update project

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