One Less Ivory Back-Scratcher for Slim

Telmex was fined more than 90 million pesos (almost $8 million) for monopolistic practices (they denied access to their network to a subsidiary of Telefónica in 2007 and 2008) by the nation's newly teethed Federal Competition Commission (CFC). This pales in comparison to the $1 billion penalty it received a few weeks ago, but the hits keep on coming for Telmex, to the point that Secretary of Communications and Transportation Dionisio Pérez had to deny that his agency, which oversees the CFC, had anything against Slim's companies. Telmex shares have been slipping in the Mexican stock market as a result of all this, and I wonder how much Slim's fortune will fall the next time we see a world's-richest list. The poor guy may drop below a gazillion.