Carlos Slim The richest Man on earth and a bit of Facebook

After spending most of my time celebrating in Mexico with family friends and people,and after organising some future Investment projects for Helsinki, and with my purpose of making one Million Euros in less than five years while reading the Forbes List I realized that the Richest Man on earth is Mexican and not to be so surprised he shares also my name Carlos.


Finaly in 2010 the richest man in the world is the Mexican telecom giant, Carlos Slim. That is according to Forbes magazine which has just released its annual list of the very rich people.

It is the first time since 1994 that an American has not led the ratings and it means he has knocked Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second place and the guru of Investing Mr. Warren Buffet.In his annual shareholder letter Buffett wrote, "We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. When it's raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble."
Finland this year welcomed its first billionaire.


The listings are not just for the curious, Steve Forbes who is the magazine’s Editor-in-chief said they are a snap shot of where money is being made and where it is being lost: “Carlos Slim is ahead by about 500 million, which in that atmosphere is pretty close, about 53 and a half billion to 53 billion.

Here is the top ten Millionaires of the world:

Carlos Slim Helú
William Gates III
Warren Buffett
Mukesh Ambani
Lakshmi Mittal
Lawrence Ellison
Bernard Arnault
Eike Batista
Amancio Ortega
Karl Albrecht

The interesting aspect of all this is that despite a world recession 97 new billionaires have been added to the ratings, 62 of them from Asia.

The world’s youngest billionaire is 25-year old Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, with a net worth of four billion dollars.

And now that suddently we ended up talking about facebook here goes an article that I wrote a month ago to be published in the Helsinki Times However as I did not see the results promissed here it goes right here...Enjoy:

FACEBOOK THE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE SIDE OF IT

Facebook was founded in California in 2004 and has become the most popular online social networking service with more than 350 Million users, eclipsing News Corporation-owned MySpace. A few months ago it was revealed that a Russian Internet company is offering to buy $100 million worth of stock from Facebook employees in a deal that would value the fast-growing social network at $6.5 billion.

The Russian company, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which invested $200 million in Facebook in May, is offering $14.77 per share of Facebook common stock.
Facebook's chief executive said at the time that the decision whether to sell stock was up to employees and that the offer "is recognition of Facebook's growth and progress towards making the world more open and connected."

US computer software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook for $240million in 2007, a deal that valued the company at $15 billion.
While its number of users has grown at an amazing clip, Facebook, unlike other Web giants such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Yahoo!, has yet to prove how it is going to translate traffic into cash.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook would be cash flow positive by 2010 and the group is considering introducing more paid-for services to Facebook.
Today, more than 350 million people are using Facebook to stay updated on what's happening around them and share almost everything with the people in their lives.

But this unlimited type of sharing could bring Negative and Positive consequences for example the privacy issue: from last December onwards, all Facebook users’ status updates are made publicly available unless the user actively opts to change the settings and make it private. Users were alerted to changes via a ‘Notification’ posted in the bottom right hand corner of the site.

The site users were also given the opportunity to change settings on things like photographs and videos they upload to the site. However, the changes sparked criticism from internet users’ rights groups who said the move was a way for Facebook to facilitate more people making more personal information publicly available without realizing it.

The changes also followed agreements Facebook signed with both Google and Microsoft’s Bing, to allow people’s status updates (which are not set to private) to be indexed by both search engines in order to enable the search giants to provide real-time results creating an amazing marketing strategy targeting all ages and interest of people in real time.

But I don’t personally believe or buy everything that they offer me, so here comes the free will to accept the privacy settings or deny them, to buy all that is offered to me or ignore it, to be a part of facebook or simply skip it.
Another much more dangerous side of it could be found in Mexico by kidnapping people. When in June 2008, Fernando Marti a 14 year old boy was kidnapped and murdered; there was a great concern in Mexico. He was the son of a very prosperous business man in Mexico, owner of Sport City, a nationwide fitness center consortium.
While the parents waited to hear from the kidnapers, they find out that people were searching for information on facebook, at his son’s site, and circulating the life and style of his son through this social network.

Rumors were epidemically circulating thought the media, blogs, facebook and internet, about the high possibility that the kidnapers had gathered the information about their lives from facebook. Friends, family, trips, everyday social life, were all shown through this site.
While people spread out the word that facebook could be used to gather information for the kidnapers to select their victims, and many users remove their information or camouflaged their identity, there are other rumors concerning criminals searching for victims on facebook when they post in their status that they will be having a weekend off, then criminals come in and steal everything. All of this gives us an idea of the different issues that we have to watch out while choosing any of this sites or tools to communicate and share our information. We need to be careful, cautious and informed.
On a different end of events The fugitive Maxi Sopo, who is facing bank fraud charges in the US, was caught in Mexico after boasting on his Facebook page about 'living in paradise' in Cancun.
Mr. Sopo, 26, from Cameroon, spent his days on the beach and nights in clubs. But his fun on the run came to an abrupt end after he started to post Facebook updates about his exploits - and added a former US justice department official to his list of friends.
Because of that indiscretion, he is now in jail in Mexico City, awaiting extradition to the US. Federal prosecutors say he and an associate falsely obtained more than $200,000 from banks and credit unions in and around Seattle. "He was making posts about how beautiful life is and how he was having a good time with his friends,"

Of course there is also the Positive side of Facebook and one of it is the amazing possibilities of communication that it offers, real time information, contact with friends and family, for me it is a perfect tool of keeping my family close specially when they live on the other side of the Atlantic and I live in Helsinki.
Facebook is a perfect place to publish this blog (http://millionairedad.blogspot.com)and get more followers day by day, I sincerely believe that the future is in the net as long as it is used properly, it is true that sometimes the speed of communication could be dangerous but we just have to adapt to the new changes and make the best out of them. So if you want to add me as a friend on facebook don’t hesitate to do it on your free will: Juan Carlos Moya.

Keep your comments coming and see you back in Helsinki in a week...

The Millions in the European Union

My purpose is stronger than ever one Million Euros in less than 5 years, now I see this objective more than interesting due to the fact that during the week in which I moved my positions to a safer place, and just when I was ready to leave the coldness of Helsinki for a month in Mexico, and more than ready to enjoy the sun and the sand in the beach, I was surprised of the events during the last week in the European stock market's downfall, few colleagues and Pasive Investors followed my advise of cashing out temporarily (just in time) and come back to the Bullish market during March, I was surprised to find out that Greece has come under pressure to implement austerity measures after the European Union announced plans to monitor the country's efforts to cut its budget deficit

Pressure on Greece to get its public finances into shape increased during this weeks as the European Union announced unusually strict measures against the country. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, is to put Greece under closer monitoring than any euro-zone country has ever been subjected to and also criticized Athens for faulty reporting of statistics.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, European Economy Commissioner Joaquin Almunia welcomed Greece's new plan to reduce its enormous budget deficit. On Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced a package of austerity measures that includes a freeze on salaries in the public sector, a possible increase in the retirement age and a hike in fuel prices.

Almunia said that the Commission was endorsing the program, which he described as "ambitious" but "achievable." "We know that the implementation of the program will not be easy," he told reporters. "It's extremely challenging, but absolutely necessary and urgent."

However, the EU wants Greece to do even more and is urging it to adopt a "comprehensive structural reform package" that would include cuts in pension spending and reform of the health-care system. The Commission also wants Greece to increase the competitiveness of its economy by making its labor market more flexible, among other demands.

At 12.7 percent of GDP, Greece's budget deficit is more than four times higher than the maximum of 3 percent allowed under euro-zone rules. The European Commission's recommendations are aimed at bringing the country's deficit under 3 percent of GDP by 2012. I really want to believe that is possible but some experts will have to take control.Greece's progress and the new plans would be rigorously monitored through so-called "economic surveillance." Athens will be required to submit a first report in mid-March and will then need to submit quarterly progress reports beginning in mid-May.

It is the first time that the Commission is using such a strict monitoring system, but Almunia insisted the program "is needed given the circumstances." Greece must be prepared to adopt additional measures if the country was not on track to reduce its budget deficit by the agreed deadlines. The country is under massive pressure from financial markets and other EU members to get its finances under control. The budgetary crisis has caused the euro to fall against the dollar in recent weeks and increased the cost of borrowing for the Greek government amid fears it could default.

There is speculation that Greece may have to be bailed out by other EU members -- something the country insists will not be necessary -- and something I believe is not going to happen! and there are also concerns that the country's woes could have a knock-on effect on other euro-zone members with high deficits, such as Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

This should warn us Investors not to go too far yet, we have to remember certain meassures in this difficult moments, this is not as difficult as it seems we have to remember that the European Union has 27 member and every member state must fulfil the economic and political conditions generally known as the Copenhaguen criteria. These basically require that a candidate Member State must enjoy a secular, democratic system of government, together with the corresponding freedoms and institutions, and respect the rule of law.

It is not only Greece with high deficits but also Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. I guess is just about time to learn some austerity from the Nordic countries and the Nordic Model. The Nordic Model refers to the economic and social model of Iceland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. This particular adaptation of the mixed market economy is characterized by more generous welfare states (relative to other developed countries), which are aimed specifically at enhancing individual autonomy, ensuring the universal provision of basic human rights and stabilizing the economy. It is distinguished from other welfare states with similar goals by its emphasis on maximizing labour force participation, promoting gender equality and extensive benefit levels, large magnitude of redistribution, and liberal use of expansionary fiscal policy. The Nordic Model however is not a single model with specific components or rules; each of the Nordic countries has their own economic and social models, sometimes with large differences from the neighbours.

To conclude this post and get to undestand what has been called as a crisis in Europe a term that is exagerated at the moment, see the next video, and now that we are talking about Nordic countries a good example of a Nordic model can be provided by Finland and The Foreign Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb.

Keep writing to me it keeps me alive and the objective is there make it happen! the sand, sun and family are waiting here I come... Enjoy the video: