*By Cyntia Barrera Diaz
MEXICO CITY, April 30 (Reuters) - A regular fixture on the society pages and a car racing enthusiast, businessman Carlos Slim Domit now has a stellar job: running Mexico's telecom giant Telmex, one of Latin America's top companies.
Slim Domit, 37, on Thursday took the helm at Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) (nyse: TMX) from his father Carlos Slim, Latin America's richest man
He will be in charge of prolonging one of the biggest successes in the corporate history of Mexico.
Slim bought Telmex, a former state-owned monopoly, from the government in 1990 and transformed it into the biggest regionally owned telecom in less than 10 years.
Telmex, which remains majority controlled by Slim, along with other companies in the family stable, account for about 50 percent of the Mexican stock market index.
Telmex bought the assets of AT&T Latin America in February in a move to tap markets in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. It is bidding for MCI's Brazilian unit Embratel and earlier this week said it was buying Chile's Chilesat.
"I don't think there will be a negative change for Telmex" as a result of the management reshuffle, said analyst Ana Gabriela Ocejo at Scotia Inverlat brokerage. "This is very transparent. The rest of the team, which has proved to be very efficient and has a lot of experience, stays in place."
Growing up, running businesses was nearly an everyday activity for Slim Domit, who has been involved in his father's companies for nearly two decades along with his two brothers, Marco Antonio and Patrick.
"Carlos Slim (Domit) is an entrepreneur who has followed his father's teachings ... who is actively looking for business expansion opportunities through acquisitions," said an analyst who asked not to be named.
Slim Domit has held top positions at department stores Grupo Sanborns and Sears, which Grupo Carso , another Slim company, bought seven years ago from U.S. department store giant Sears, Roebuck & Co.
He was also behind Grupo Carso's acquisition of Dallas-based computer retailer CompUSA Inc. in 2000, one of Slim's major forays into U.S. territory.
"He has the support of many people who have been in the (family) business for many years. Besides, his father is still very involved in the business," said Rodrigo Jimenez at Banamex in Mexico City.
"It is not as if they are throwing him into the bullring alone," he added.
Slim, 64, the patriarch of an empire worth about $14 billion, has been preparing his sons to take over by gradually handing them control of some of his biggest companies.
Marco Antonio Slim is now the chairman at financial group Inbursa . The other son, Patrick, is a commercial director in Telmex. Slim also has three daughters.
REUTERS
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