Billionaire Carlos Slim Helu launches website

The 67-year-old Mexican business magnate of Lebanese descent designed the site, which quietly went live about three weeks ago as a forum for his ideas on topics ranging from business ventures to philanthropical projects.

Newspapers in Mexico City publicized the page on Tuesday.

The basis of Slim's fortune is Telefonos de Mexico, the country's largest fixed-line telephone company -- and its dominant Internet provider. Most Mexicans access the Internet through Slim's companies.

Slim's home page features a color photo of the magnate and offers advice: "With a good historical perspective, we can keep the past and present in mind and develop a clear vision of the future."

It also features pages with biographical, business and philanthropic information, as well as a question-and-answer section.

A Mexican financial Web site recently put Slim's worth ahead of Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates'-- a change that would make the Mexican businessman the world's richest person.

At a press conference last month, Slim said he pays little attention to such rankings.

"It doesn't matter to me if I'm first or twentieth or two-thousandth," he said.

Slim's latest philantropic project is a program to donate 250,000 laptop computers to Mexican schools and libraries by the end of the year.