Posted on January 21, 2011

Carlos Slim Declines to Commit to Giving Pledge

Carlos Slim, the world's richest individual according to Forbes magazine, has declined to sign on to the Giving Pledge that fellow multi-billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates launched last year, CNBC reports.

In a taped interview, Slim told CNBC that he believed businesspeople should help fight poverty, but that he is not convinced giving to charity is the best way to do so. He also said he believed he could do more to create jobs by holding onto and operating his companies than if he were to sell them and give half his wealth to charitable causes and programs.

Slim, whose foundation has engaged in several large partnerships over the last five years, is not opposed to leveraging the power of collaboration in his philanthropic work. "[W]e have told Bill and all the other people worldwide...that for every dollar that they put in Mexico, we put another dollar, in programs that we both agree to do," he said. "We are already doing some programs. It will be very important to support that."