The 2009 TIME 100 Finalists

Cast your votes for the leaders, artists, entrepreneurs and thinkers who deserve a spot on this year's TIME 100. — By Brian Raftery

Carlos Slim

Keith Dannemiller / Corbis
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AGE: 60
OCCUPATION: Mexican monopolist
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 1

PRO: The telecom kingpin dominates Latin America's mobile-phone market, allowing him to amass a personal fortune of more than $60 billion. Last year, he surprised observers by loaning $250 million to the ailing New York Times Co.

CON: Journalism experts frowned on the Times Co. arrangement, saying it would compromise the paper's coverage of Slim's business dealings.

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