By Emily Green
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Ricardo Salinas Pliego, one of Mexico's wealthiest tycoons, commands an empire that stretches from banking to media, and casts himself as an anti-corruption crusader.
To Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, Salinas is something altogether different: a tax dodger and right-wing agitator whose companies owe the government some $4 billion.
The feud between these two titans of Mexican public life has exploded into a high-stakes legal and political fight: a Supreme Court ruling, relentless press coverage, and a litmus test of Sheinbaum's ability to confront Mexico's elite.
For Sheinbaum, taking on Salinas now risks backfiring, as the billionaire channels public anger over issues from violence to corruption. His supporters increasingly tout his presidential bona fides, with many in Mexico describing him as a mash-up of U.S. President Donald Trump and Argentina's firebrand leader Javier Milei.
The showdown has also touched a nerve in the business community, whose uneasy alliance with the leftist president is showing signs of fraying amid an aggressive tax crackdown and discontent over a judicial overhaul that replaced appointed judges with elected ones.
"Salinas Pliego is an extraordinary villain. He is the poster child of how rich people with important connections avoid paying taxes," said Carlos Bravo Regidor, a political analyst in Mexico City. "But sometimes villains surprise us and come out on top."
Salinas did not respond to an interview request for this story. He has acknowledged owing a back payment of taxes, but disputes the amount.
'UNCLE RICHI'
Salinas' embrace of the avuncular nickname "Tio Richi," or "Uncle Richi," belies his long reputation as an aggressive businessman with a history of legal cases around the world.
Starting out as CEO of his family firm, a home-appliance retailer, he supercharged his empire in 1993 thanks to a loan from the brother of Mexico's then-president that allowed him to buy a state-owned TV network. Salinas transformed the station into TV Azteca, now Mexico's No. 2 broadcaster.
He forged close ties with successive presidents and his conglomerate Grupo Salinas landed hundreds of federal contracts for everything from insurance to cybersecurity.
But, as the magnate's tax fight with the government has intensified, Sheinbaum has ordered a review of some of those contracts and suggested they may be canceled. Salinas' personal wealth is down — from $13.4 billion in 2024 to $4.9 billion today, according to Forbes.
Months of escalating tension spiraled into a full-fledged battle in recent weeks.
On November 11, authorities shuttered two of Salinas' casinos as part of an investigation into money laundering. Grupo Salinas denied wrongdoing and accused the government of harassment.
Two days later, Mexico's newly revamped Supreme Court – composed of nine elected judges supported by the ruling Morena party – unanimously upheld tax claims against Salinas' conglomerate worth $2.5 billion. The ruling, which pertains to tax bills from 2008 to 2013, cannot be appealed but Salinas could negotiate a settlement with the tax agency.
Salinas has accused Mexican authorities of "extortion" and said he is willing to pay the government $400 million to settle the tax case, an amount that he says his conglomerate rightfully owes. Sheinbaum has rejected the offer and has insisted that he pay his firm's total tax debt, which she says reaches $4 billion.
The battle with Salinas is part of a wider tax crackdown that Sheinbaum is enacting as she seeks revenues to fund an expanding slate of social programs for the country's poorest citizens, the core of her political support.
Authorities are also pursuing $16 billion from Samsung Electronics, alleging misuse of export incentives and double taxation rules from 2014 to 2016. Samsung has emphasized its commitment to Mexican laws and sought to negotiate a deal over the tax dispute.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month accused Mexico's tax authority of "aggressive and inconsistent tax enforcement practices," while an association of U.S. CEOs accused it of "unreasonable tax audits and assessments."
Sheinbaum's predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador employed a similar strategy, forcing major companies to settle billions of dollars in tax disputes. But much of the low-hanging fruit is gone and Sheinbaum is facing more resistance, said analysts.
PRESIDENTIAL AMBITIONS
The lightning-fast ruling by the Supreme Court against Salinas — made just over two months after the justices took office — may have lent credence to accusations of a biased judicial system, said Emiliano Polo, a political analyst based in Mexico City and scholar at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
"The perception the new court is creating is that it will resolve every case in favor of the government," Polo said. "And of course Salinas is capitalizing on that."
A few days after the decision, Salinas aligned himself with protesters who flooded city streets across Mexico to denounce Sheinbaum's government. Clashes erupted outside the presidential palace.
"We suffer from a state that is docile with criminals and ferocious against its critics," Salinas wrote on X.
Trump weighed in, telling reporters he had seen images of the protests. "There's some big problems in Mexico," he said.
Sheinbaum's administration accuses Salinas of helping bankroll the unrest, pointing to a social media blitz it says cost nearly $5 million.
Salinas, who denied funding the protests, has gleefully goaded Sheinbaum and her supporters.
"I think it's the moment to enter a new phase, a different direction, and why not, to get rid of those shitty leftists and tell them to go fuck themselves," he declared at his 70th birthday bash in October, in a speech to more than 15,000 guests at an indoor arena.
The crowd whooped and cheered, shouting: "president! president!"
(Reporting by Emily Green, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Stephen Eisenhammer)
