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NYT's Savior Favors Tough Business Style

Carlos Slim, the controversial Mexican billionaire, who rescued The New York Times empire with a well-timed $250 million loan, is an outspoken investor. He will not get a seat on the board and says he is not looking to influence the paper -- but he has his opinions.

Two months ago, Slim told a U.S. conference that the U.S. was too soft on bad management and losses. He said the solution for big losers like automakers was to push them into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to wipe out overhead and contracts. Back in 2007, he said at a nursing home opening, "Poverty isn't solved with donations." A tough business style gets more done for society that "going around like Santa Claus."

There's little charity in his NYT rescue. He's extracting a stiff 14% interest rate and got the newspaper to agree to strict rules that it couldn't sell assets without his approval. Slim's critics say he's expanded his riches in a poor country by charging excessively high telephone rates with his near monopoly of Telmex, in which he now owns 67%.

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