February 2001

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and four co-defendants were ordered by a jury to pay $454.5 million in damages to a Dallas company, saying they derailed the company's plans to open CompUSA stores in Mexico. The company, COC Services, said its exclusive agreement to open the stores hinged on finding an investor. Slim expressed interest in helping them finance the deal. But, COC's owners testified that Slim and his associates halted talks after gaining insider information about CompUSA, which Slim bought a few months later for $800 million.