Alfredo Harp Helú
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Alfredo Harp Helú (born 1944) is a Mexican, from Lebanese origin, billionaire, and with a net worth of $1.6 billion (in US dollars) ranked 413 on Forbes Magazine list of "The World's Richest People" in 2005.
Born in Mexico City, Harp is the ex-owner of the biggest Latin American and Mexican bank, Banamex (now part of Citigroup), and owner of the telecommunication company, Avantel, the second largest telephone company in Mexico.
In 1994, Harp's family paid about $30 million after he was held for 106 days by his kidnappers in Mexico City. 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 will 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.
A billion dollar beneficiary of Citigroup's buyout of Banamex, Harp now spends much of his time tending to his nation's poor. Through Banamex Social Foundation, he oversees development aid to the impoverished of the south Mexican state of Oaxaca, and remains as the chairman of the board of Banamex's holding company.
Harp is married, with four children.
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