Mercedes Sánchez Navarro is known not only for belonging to one of the most influential families in Mexico’s business and political history but also for being the current partner of Carlos Slim Helú—the country’s richest man and one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.
Although she generally stays out of the limelight, Mercedes has led a life closely tied to national economic power; she holds shares in Grupo Modelo, one of the most important brewing companies in Mexican history, which was sold to the multinational Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2013. María Asunción Aramburuzabala—Mexico’s wealthiest woman—also held a stake in the company and remains on its Board of Directors today.
Mercedes’s business connections extend to her family. Her brother, Eduardo Sánchez Navarro, is a prominent businessman in Baja California Sur and serves on the Board of Directors of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP). Both inherited a portion of the shares in Grupo Modelo.
The Sánchez Navarro surname has deep roots in Mexican history. According to records from the outlet *Memoria Política de México*, the family amassed millions of hectares during the colonial period (1521–1810) through large estates (*latifundios*) and loans to landowners; they would subsequently seize the land when the borrowers were unable to repay their debts.
