Mexican Business Giant Begins Transition to Sons

          By JULIA PRESTON

                MEXICO CITY -- Carlos Slim Helu, the billionaire Mexican
                businessman, has handed two of his sons the leadership of Grupo
          Carso SA de CV, the company where he began the climb that made him
          the richest man in Latin America.

          According to an announcement late Monday, Carlos Slim Domit, 31, the
          oldest son, will be Grupo Carso's chairman, and his brother Patrick, 29,
          will occupy a new position equivalent to chief operating officer. The
          company produces everything from chocolates to fiber optic cable and
          owns the Mexican chain of 40 Sears stores.

          Analysts said the elder Slim, 58, who had cardiac surgery a year ago, was
          putting the new generation in place in case he should suffer further
          ailments and also to prepare for the economic storm hanging over many of
          the emerging markets.

          Carlos Slim Domit, however, denied that, saying, "His health had nothing
          to do with it," and adding: "He is perfectly fine. He did it now because he
          feels the company is well structured, it runs efficiently and no major
          unfinished business is hanging over it. He wants to dedicate more of his
          time to telecommunications."

          The senior Slim will remain as chairman of Carso Global Telecom SA and
          of the nation's telephone giant, Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, as well
          of as his financial company Grupo Financiero Inbursa SA Slim named one
          of his oldest associates, Jaime Chico Pardo, 48, to become the second in
          command at Carso Global Telecom.

          He built his reputation and his fortune -- the family's net worth is estimated
          by Forbes magazine at $7.2 billion -- through smart purchases of ailing
          companies, which he turned around with shrewd management. Now he
          seems to want to explore new areas like the Internet and digital
          communications.

          Unlike most successful Mexican companies these days, which are
          oriented toward exports, about 80 percent of Grupo Carso's production
          is for domestic markets. Carlos Slim Domit said the company was not
          planning major changes.

          Analysts said they expected little change at Telmex, the bellwether
          Mexican stock, whose U.S. depository receipts are traded in New York,
          as are several other companies in which the family has held stakes.
          "Telmex is probably one of the best-positioned companies in Mexico to
          weather the new crisis," said Simon Flannery of J.P. Morgan Securities.
          "It has low levels of debt and generates significant amounts of cash."

          Under the stern eye of Slim, his sons have received more than a decade
          of training to run his companies. The older son has been running the
          Mexican Sears chain, which his father bought two years ago.
          Floor-to-ceiling remodeling of several decrepit stores and radical changes
          to make the company more efficient have begun to attract customers. The
          younger son has run Nacobre SA, a mining company.

          The generational shift follows a recent pattern in Mexican business. Last
          year, Emilio Azcarraga Jean, now 30, took control of the vast Grupo
          Televisa media empire after the death of his father, Emilio Azcarraga
          Milmo, and Ricardo Salinas Pliego, son of a family of department store
          owners who is now 41, is running TV Azteca, the rival television network.