Carlos Slim cancels his collaboration with Elon Musk's Starlink

Credibility of the story and numbers

• Multiple commenters call the article “tabloid” and say no reputable outlets corroborate it.
• The claim that Musk “lost $7B” and that there was a “$22B investment over 5 years” is widely doubted; several insist those figures are likely fabricated or wildly exaggerated.
• It’s pointed out that Slim’s company was, in practice, an authorized Starlink reseller in Latin America, not a massive equity investor.

Source and nature of the cartel accusation

• The immediate trigger was Musk quote‑tweeting a post on X alleging Slim has “significant ties to cartels,” backed only by a NYT article that doesn’t mention Slim.
• Commenters note Musk provided no evidence; some call this a dangerous, defamatory move.
• Some argue it’s hard to be a top Mexican magnate without some cartel adjacency; others call that a “cartoonish” view of Mexico and stress the difference between vague generalizations and specific criminal accusations.

Timing and causality

• Mexican coverage shows Slim publicly pivoted on Feb 10 toward building his own terrestrial infrastructure, with his carrier confirming the move on Feb 12.
• This timeline suggests the business relationship was already being wound down before Musk’s tweet; several conclude the tweet looks more like retaliation than the cause of the breakup.

Views on Musk’s behavior and leadership

• Many see this as another example of Musk’s impulsive, vengeful tweeting (compared to the “pedo guy” incident).
• There is extensive speculation about drug use, sleep deprivation, and “Twitter poisoning” distorting his judgment, though commenters acknowledge this is based on public behavior, not hard proof.
• Some argue boards and corporate governance have failed to constrain him, with side‑threads on his disputed “founder” status at Tesla and his enormous pay package.

Ethical and business fallout

• Some individuals report canceling services (e.g., mobile plans) tied to Starlink as a personal boycott over Musk’s politics, especially on LGBTQ issues.
• Others doubt the breakup will materially harm Starlink given its global growth, while skeptics counter that, if the investment numbers were real, it would be substantial.
• A few broader threads discuss Starlink’s competitive moat (cheap launches) and EV competition, but these are tangential to the Slim–Musk dispute.