Billionaire Salinas Briefly Threatened With Arrest in AT&T Suit

(Bloomberg) -- Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas has posted a $25 million bond to avoid arrest in the US over an alleged debt some of his companies owe to AT&T Inc.

Salinas, one of Mexico’s richest men with a fortune of $7.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, owns electronics retailer Elektra and other businesses like TV Azteca and Banco Azteca. He’s a vocal opponent of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has repeatedly criticized him and his companies for allegedly not paying billions in taxes, which the business magnate disputes. 

The ultimatum on his arrest came from another dispute relating to an alleged debt, this time with AT&T. The company bought Salinas’s Mexican telecom business in 2014 and sued in 2020, alleging it was owed money over unpaid taxes dating back to previous ownership. 

Salinas’ companies disputed this but lost, and were found to be in contempt of court. When that finding of contempt also failed to recover payment, New York State Supreme Court Judge Andrea Masley found Salinas personally to be in contempt, ordering him to either pay AT&T $20 million within two weeks or be jailed until he did so. The previously unreported order also included Francisco Borrego, a top Salinas operative who serves as the general counsel to his companies. 

“Incarceration in Rikers. Not a pleasant place,” Masley said in a June hearing, referring to the notorious Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. 

Salinas and his companies posted a joint $25 million bond before the two-week deadline set by Masley, but are also appealing the ruling. A representative for Grupo Salinas did not respond to a request for comment.

In Mexico, Salinas and his companies are not just facing pressure from the government over the allegedly unpaid taxes but also from bondholders who purchased debt in TV Azteca and have not been paid back. Grupo Salinas said in a statement last week that it was open to dialogue with bondholders about how to best restructure its debt. 

--With assistance from Michael O'Boyle.

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