Carlos Slim has increased his stake in the New York Times Company.
The Mexican billionaire exercised stock warrants he acquired in 2009 during the depths of the global financial crisis, when the newspaper took a loan from Slim to stay solvent. This move means he now owns 16.8% of the company’s common stock, the Times said in a statement. It also makes Slim the Times’s single biggest shareholder.
However, thanks to a dual-class share structure, the board remains under the control of the Sulzberger family, which controls 90% of the class B, or voting, stock. That diminishes the risk of a takeover bid by Slim, whose businesses include América Móvil, which dominates telecommunications in Latin America.
As of today, Slim is the world’s second richest man, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s index. His wealth primarily comes from telecom holdings. The New York Times is the third biggest newspaper in the US by total circulation.