(Bloomberg) – Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas is still rebellious and plans his next move after clashes with the government and the plunge of his net worth.
In an interview, he said plans to remove his flagship company, Grupo Elektra Sab, would move his business away from the open market and allow the conglomerate to run as he thinks it is appropriate. He said he would do so by around May, as just 0.3% of the stock remains unpaid.
“Despite all the issues in Mexico, our company is on track,” he said in a February 26 interview at one of its offices in Mexico City. “I can now be free to myself.”
Being private may be a chance for Salinas, 69, to start fresh, but he still faces some lingering challenges. He is locked in a legal battle with the government over taxes, trying to contain the lost money as a victim of a suspected loan fraud. He has been closely watching Mexico’s trade negotiations with the United States and has seen positive words about President Claudia Sinbaum fighting Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
“It’s been a few months and she’s suddenly faced with these Trump threats and very challenging situations,” he said. “She is trying to appease Trump’s demands to control borders and control drug flow. So I think she’s working hard, but that’s a difficult position.”
Last year, Elektra asked the stock exchange to suspend trading, allowing Salinas to stop selling the shares it provided as collateral for its loans. Salinas later presented the court with evidence that he had been misunderstood by the lender. The lender owned about $400 million worth of shares and had not returned them. He now blames his advisor for not properly reviewing lenders. (The lender denied fraud.)
When trading resumed late last year, Grupo Elektra’s shares sunk 70%, wiping out about $5 billion in fortune. The Bloomberg Billionaire Index currently pegs his net worth at $5.8 billion.
A pending case before the Mexico Supreme Court is also a headache for Salinas. The Mexican government says his company is borrowing pesos ($3 billion) of taxes. Salinas argues that he is being double-claimed and that he does not have to pay for the cumulative penalties that arise while he challenges the case.
“I’m going to keep fighting,” he said. “I’m willing to pay either one. I haven’t paid twice.”
Salinas is a Mexican legend and is, as well as his business prowess, due to his public conflicts and legal battles. He adopted a business founded by his grandfather and turned it into an empire by expanding his credit with interest rates above the three digits, allowing low-income shoppers to purchase big ticket items such as refrigerators and big screen televisions. He acquired a television network, made telecommunications investments, and established a bank through the network of Elektra stores.
Grupo Elektra revenues before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization increased 57% from the previous quarter, increasing sales in the banking sector and reducing costs. The company had to be charged non-cash claims to reflect the decline in the value of derivatives associated with the stock price, leading to a net loss.
It won’t be much different once Electra leaves the open market, Salinas said. If he needs to raise funds, he seeks a partner rather than borrowing or increasing equity.
“We just reorganize the group in another unit. If we have the opportunity to do a joint venture with someone, or bring in new money for a particular program, we do that. But now, I don’t need it,” he said.
Salinas was optimistic about Elektra’s ability to weather the competition with the growing rush of financial technology companies in Mexico, including Nu Holdings Ltd., a digital bank that has taken Brazil into the storm but has not broken down in Mexico.
“We are the king of little loans,” he said. “I’ve had the proverb that every idiot makes a loan for a long time. Collecting that is another thing.”
Outside of his own companies, including broadcaster TV Azteca and internet provider Total Play Telecomunicaciones, Salinas prefers to invest in what he calls the hardest assets: Bitcoin and Gold.
“There’s about 70% of Bitcoin-related exposures and 30% of gold and gold miners,” he said. “I don’t have a single bond and I don’t have any other stocks except my own.”
Bitcoin is one of Salinas’ favorite topics on social media and as one of Mexico’s few right-wing superstars, he built over 2 million followers on X.
On social media he is known as “Tio Riche” or “Ancle Rich.” It shows off yachts and helicopters, delivering profanity invectives to the left, civil servants and journalists. For Salinas, this was part of his fight for Mexico’s future, where the ruling party, founded by former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, defeated the centralists and the right.
“I know so much that the opposition parties are ineffective and they have no real purpose, so something needs to be done,” he said. “We’re thinking about that.”
During the depths of the pandemic, Salinas’ social media persona became a must-see from corporate accounts along the way, when they suffered from government shutdowns and ordered employees to continue their work. He was close to Lopez Obrador at the beginning of his term, but relations deteriorated when the administration pushed forward with its tax claims.
“The government and the state are obstructing all kinds of individual actions,” Salinas said. “And we believe we have to remove all those obstacles and all those obstacles and make people feel free.
Salinas has established schools in some of Mexico’s largest cities to provide quality education to more young people. In 2023, his La Libertad Universidad opened the doors and offered courses on business skills and leadership.
His top question is that governments will improve “the rule of law, security and justice for everyday people.” He pointed out Mexico’s murder rates unacceptable, suggesting to take the hardline approach of President Naive Buquel, president of El Salvador, who has imprisoned tens of thousands of gang members, reducing murder rates and becoming one of the world’s most popular leaders.
“We’ll apply the Bukere model. We’ll designate them as terrorists,” he said. “And anyone who catches being part of a gang has been imprisoned for 40 years.”
He praised Argentine President Javier Mairei for praise as the type of outsider the country needs to lead change. “He was learning. It’s almost God’s act that he’s there. He inspired me,” he said.
Still, he said it was too early to make a decision on whether he might compete in the next presidential election in Mexico in 2030.
What’s more, he said, there are other ways to influence society.
“I’m selling ideas and criticizing bad ideas, so I’m 100% in politics and promoting good ideas,” he said.
Most of them read from Bloomberg BusinessWeek
©2025 Bloomberg LP
