Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim acquires 6.4% Stake in New York Times

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and his family became yesterday one of the biggest shareholders of the American New York Times group, when they took a 6.4% stake in the company worth $127 million.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, who filed the purchase, that makes Slim the third largest outside shareholder in the New York Times.

Carlos Slim is best known for his telecommunication investments including Telefonos de Mexico and America Movil, the largest mobile phone company in Latin America.

Second richest man in the world, after Warren Buffet, with a net worth of $60 billion according to Forbes Magazine, Carlos Slim now holds 9.1 million shares of the group that publishes The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

This occurs a few months after Harbinger Capital Partners purchased almost 20% of the New York Times and Boston Globe, securing two seats on the board.

This purchase comes after a 20% drop in the stock this year.

The shares gained in trading today.

Arturo Elias Ayub, a spokesman for Slim declared in a telephone interview with Bloomberg TV: "It is a great company that has an attractive value today. The door is always open to assess whether we will buy more."