Mexico’s Richest Billionaires 2021

On Forbes’ 2021 list of the world’s richest, Mexico’s billionaires are worth about one third more than a year ago, buoyed by a stronger peso and rebounding stocks.

It’s been a very prosperous year to be a billionaire, data from the 2021 Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires show. And that is true in Mexico as well. The country’s billionaire ranks swelled by one since last year to 13 list members, while their combined net worth rose by nearly a third to $136.1 billion (up from $103 billion). 

Just over a year ago, Forbes took a snapshot of the world’s wealthiest using stock prices and exchange rates from March 18, 2020. The Mexican peso had fallen to 24 pesos per U.S. dollar, a 25% drop measured from the beginning of 2020. Stock prices had tumbled as well.

For the 2021 list of the world’s wealthiest, Forbes used exchange rates and stock prices from March 5, 2021. The Mexican peso had strengthened to about 21 pesos per dollar, and stock prices of many companies founded and run by Mexican billionaires rebounded significantly.

Carlos Slim Helú keeps his long-held spot as Mexico’s richest person. At an estimated $62.8 billion, he’s worth $10.7 billion more than a year ago. Though his fortune has grown, he’s fallen to 16th richest person in the world, from No. 12 richest on last year’s list, as others like Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the cofounders of Google, as well as the world’s richest woman, L’Oreal heir Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, moved up in the rankings.

German Larrea Mota Velasco rose to become the second richest Mexican billionaire this year, up from No. 3 last year, as shares of his mining firm Grupo Mexico more than doubled in value. He’s worth an estimated $25.9 billion on this year’s list, up from $11 billion last year.

David Penaloza Alanis, CEO of toll road company Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura, known as Pinfra, returns to the ranks after falling off in 2020. Shares of Pinfra have been on a rollercoaster ride during the past year but were worth slightly more on March 5 this year than on March 18, 2020. The stronger peso also helped boost Penaloza’s fortune in dollar terms. 

Fernando Chico Pardo, chairman and president of airport management firm Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, also returns to the ranks after falling off in 2020. Longtime billionaires list member Jeronimo Arango, who cofounded retailer Cifra with his brothers and sold it to Walmart in 1997, died at age 94 in April 2020.

Here are Mexico’s 13 billionaires; net worths are as of March 5, 2021:

#1 | Carlos Slim Helú

NET WORTH: $62.8 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: TELECOM

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Slim, whose largest asset is a majority stake in pan-Latin American wireless telecom firm América Móvil, was the world’s richest person for four years from 2010 to 2013. He ranks No. 16 richest on Forbes’ 2021 list, down from No. 12 in 2020, despite the fact that his fortune grew $10.7 billion in the past year.

#2 | Germán Larrea Mota Velasco

NET WORTH: $25.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: MINING

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Larrea owns the majority of copper mining company Grupo México, whose shares more than doubled in value in the past year, helping to boost his fortune from $11 billion last year.

#3 | Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego

NET WORTH: $12.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: RETAIL, MEDIA

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Salinas is worth $1.2 billion more than a year ago, helped by a stronger peso. Most of his fortune lies in his stake in Grupo Elektra, a publicly-traded home appliances retailer that targets lower middle class consumers who borrow money from his banking arm, Banco Azteca, to buy items like refrigerators and TVs. His TV broadcaster TV Azteca has seen revenues decline; its market capitalization is a tiny fraction of what it was a decade ago.

#4 | Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez

NET WORTH: $9.2 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: MINING

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Ballieres chairs mining group Industrias Penoles, whose shares have risen about 50% in the past year. He also controls department store chain Grupo Palacio de Hierro, which hasn’t fared quite as well.

#5 | Juan Francisco Beckmann Vidal

NET WORTH: $7 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: TEQUILA

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Beckmann Vidal, a descendant of Don Jose Antonio de Cuervo, owns the majority of Jose Cuervo tequila maker Becle. Shares of the company have risen more than 50% in the past year, lifting his fortune from $4.3 billion a year ago.

#6 | Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala

NET WORTH: $5.8 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: BEER, INVESTMENTS

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

The only Mexican woman on the billionaire rankings, Aramburuzabala inherited a stake in beer giant Grupo Modelo from her father before its $20 billion sale to Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2013. She still serves on the board of ABInBev, and joined the board of directors of listed cosmetics firm Coty in December 2020.

#7 | Antonio del Valle Ruiz & family

NET WORTH: $3.1 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: CHEMICALS

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Del Valle Ruiz and his six children own 42% of chemicals firm Orbia Advance Corp., which was formerly called Mexichem. Orbia Advance Corp. shares doubled in the past year, driving his fortune up from $1.6 billion on the 2020 Forbes list.

#8 | Carlos Hank Rhon

NET WORTH: $2.2 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: BANKING

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

The son of late politician Carlos Hank Gonzalez is invested in construction, tourism, energy and more. He got nearly $500 million in 2017 when he sold his Grupo Financiero Interacciones to Grupo Banorte, the Monterrey-based bank founded by his wife’s father, the late billionaire Roberto Gonzalez Barrera (d. 2012).

#9 | Roberto Hernandez Ramirez

NET WORTH: $1.9 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: BANKING, INVESTMENTS

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

He made a fortune as a shareholder of Mexican bank Banamex, which Citigroup acquired in 2001 for some $12 billion in cash and stock.

#10 | Rufino Vigil Gonzalez

NET WORTH: $1.7 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: STEEL

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

The Mexican steel baron’s fortune is up $500 million from a year ago after a rebound in the share price of two steel listed companies in which he owns shares: Industrias CH and Grupo Simec.

#11 | Fernando Chico Pardo

NET WORTH: $1.4 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: AIRPOR MANAGEMENT

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Chico Pardo returns to the ranks after falling off in 2020. Shares of his airport management firm Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste plunged dramatically in early March 2020 but nearly doubled in value since then. Chico Pardo is president and chairman of the Mexico-listed company.

#12 | Alfredo Harp Helú

NET WORTH: $1.2 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: BANKING, INVESTMENTS

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Like Roberto Hernandez, Harp Helú was also a shareholder of Mexican bank Banamex, which Citigroup purchased for some $12 billion in stock and cash in 2001.

#13 | David Penaloza Alanis

NET WORTH: $1 BILLION

SOURCE OF WEALTH: TOLL ROADS

RESIDENCE: MEXICO CITY

Penaloza Alanis returns to the list after falling off in 2020. He is CEO of toll road company Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura, known as Pinfra, and owns about 29% of the stock. His father, David Penaloza Sandoval, founded a predecessor company.