He's gaining on Bill Gates...

Unfortunately many feel it's coming at the expense of those who can least afford it, however, as CNN reports:

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- The world's third-richest man, Carlos Slim, is gaining rapidly on Bill Gates and Warren Buffet with a fortune that grew $19 billion last year -- the largest wealth gain in the past decade tracked by Forbes magazine.

It's also a sign of the wealth gap in Mexico's monopoly-laden economy.

Since Slim bought the telephone monopoly in a 1991 privatization, he's used Telmex as a cash cow to build an empire that includes Latin America's largest mobile phone company; provides banking, brokerage and Internet services; sells insurance and oil industry equipment; and operates retail stores and restaurants.

To many Mexicans, who make Slim richer with nearly every phone call or trip to the mall, his rise shows their businessmen can run world-class companies. He's widely praised for turning Telmex -- once notorious for taking months or years to install a phone line -- into a modern, professional operation.

Is it a matter of jealousy that he's done so well or him taking advantage of those less fortunate? That seems to be at the core of the controversy.