Mexico president says Slim wants to retire and promote public welfare

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday that billionaire Carlos Slim, the country’s richest man, has told him he aims to retire during his six-year administration, and has committed to helping the economy in the process.

“He wants to end his business life helping economic growth and public welfare during this government,” Lopez Obrador told a regular morning news conference. “That’s what he offered me. He wants to retire and he wants to do it in this government.”

Day-to-day management of his business empire, which ranges from telecommunications and construction to retail and banking, is in the hands of his sons and sons-in-law, though he is widely held to maintain a powerful influence over decision-making, Reuters reports.