The Merry Tycoon

Mexico’s Ricardo Salinas Sees Tough Times Now, Golden Times Later

“My life has been about competition,” declared Mexican tycoon Ricardo Salinas. Salinas, the founder and chairman of the international conglomerate Grupo Salinas and one of Forbes’ “World’s Richest People,” was discussing his bid to challenge the telecom monopoly of his countryman Carlos Slim, the richest person in the world. Salinas characterized his long relationship with Slim as “good” but warned of the dangers of price discrimination and noted that they “parted company” over the issue.

Moderator Matthew Bishop, business editor of The Economist, opened the evening by relating to a standing-room-only …