Alfredo Harp Helú (born 1944) is a Mexican businessman of Lebanese origin, and as of 2011, with a net worth of $1.5 billion, is according to Forbes the 974th richest person in the world. He is also the cousin of multibillionaire Carlos Slim.[1]
In 2018, Alfredo Harp Helu ranked #1,867 on the Forbes World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US $1.2 billion.[2]
Born on 11 March 1944 in Mexico City,[3] Harp is most famous for being the former owner of the biggest Latin American and Mexican bank, Banamex (now part of Citigroup), and was a billion-dollar beneficiary of Citigroup's 2001 buyoutofBanamex. He is also owner of the telecommunication company, Avantel, the second largest telephone company in Mexico (now part of Axtel).
In 1994, Harp's family paid about $30 million after he was held for 106 days by his kidnappers in Mexico City.[5] The release followed a dramatic television appearance in which his son, accompanied by a family lawyer and a priest, accepted the kidnappers' terms unconditionally. At the family's request, the police did not intervene, giving rise to fears that the huge ransom would encourage more kidnappings, and adding to concerns about Mexico's stability. In 1996, authorities claimed to have recovered nearly $10 million of the Harp ransom.[5]
In 2008, Harp attended the funeral of Fernando Martí, 14-year-old son of the founder of a chain of sporting goods stores, who had been kidnapped and murdered, despite his family's payment of a ransom. He also paid for a full-page advertisement in newspapers calling on the government to put a stop to the rising kidnapping phenomenon in Mexico.[citation needed]
Harp also founded the Alfredo Harp Helú Baseball Academy, located in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. The Academy's goal is to develop young baseball prospects and it is affiliated to the Diablos Rojos del México and Guerreros de Oaxaca.[7]
^ ab"Mi historia". alfredoharphelu.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 June 2023.
^Rocha, Rodrigo (March 23, 2019), "Los Diablos tienen fiesta" [The Diablos have a celebration], Milenio (in Spanish), Mexico City, retrieved 23 March 2019
