Biography
The son of Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, Patrick Slim Domit is chief executive of Grupo Sanborns, the Mexican department store group which controls Sears and Saks Fifth Avenue in the Mexican market. He also serves as the chief commercial officers of the Mexican telecommunications company, Telefonos de Mexico.
A native of Mexico, Slim Domit holds a degree in business administration from Universidad Anáhuac. His career, encompassing 7 head positions at various companies, began when he inherited executive positions at some of Mexico’s largest companies. He served as vice chairman of Grupo Carso, the family-run conglomerate, and co-chairman of America Movil the third largest mobile carrier group in the world. Prior to its large stake in the retail world, Grupo Carso was known as Immobiliaria Carso, helmed by Domit who acquired real estate, leasing and investment companies during the 1960s and 1970s.
Slim Domit’s foray into retail began with Grupo Carso’s acquisition of Sanborn Hermanos, a chain of department stores and restaurants. He joined the board of directors in 1996, and the group subsequently acquired Sears Mexico. In 1999 he established Grupo Sanborns as a commercial unit.
In 2003, Grupo Sanborns acquired the six JC Penney department stores operating in Mexico, and 2007 saw the group open the first Saks Fifth Avenue store in Mexico and enter the luxury segment. Slim Domit has served as chief executive of Grupo Sanborns since 2012 and oversaw Saks Fifth Avenue’s expansion across Mexico City, beyond its Polanco location and into Santa Fe.
He also took part in a round of financing for Fancy, an American platform for social shopping.
Slim Domit is an avid philanthropist, actively involved in the family foundation, the Fundacion Carlos Slim Helu, which has an endowment of $3.5 billion. The family has also created the National Transplant Foundation, while campaigning for organ donation in partnerhsiop with the country’s Health Ministry. To date, it has funded around 7,000 transplants. He is also a director of the non-profit spiritual organisation, the Mission for the Love of God Worldwide.
Despite some closures of its MixUp, Sanborns and Sears stores, the company saw a 10 percent increase of its Mixup and iShop units, the latter being the primary distributors of Apple products in Mexico.