Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim may be the world's richest man but he limits his monthly salary to 24,000 dollars and travels in a Suburban, according to his latest biography. Slim, 70, knocked Bill Gates from the top of the Forbes list of the world's billionaires this year with an estimated fortune of 53.5 billion dollars. He began his business career aged 10, selling sweets and drinks to his family and later made his name with aggressive investments during crises. "Unlike aristocrats, the jet set or the monarchy, he's extremely simple," biographer Jose Martinez told us as a new edition of his 2002 book, Carlos Slim, unpublished portrait , was set for release across Latin America. According to his biographer, Slim's fortune far exceeds the amount calculated by Forbes. The fifth of six children -- three boys and three girls -- Slim was born into a well-off family, including a Lebanese immigrant father, in Mexico City in January 1940. Slim studied civil engineering and later built up the telephone monopoly Telmex after acquiring it from the government in 1990. He hit the top spot of billionaires after his fortune rose to 18.5 billion in 12 months, and shares of America Movil, of which he owns a 23-billion-dollar stake, were up 35 per cent in a year, according to Forbes.
