After years of 30 lawsuits over protection and tax credits, the Supreme Court ruled against him and he will have to pay an estimated P50 billion.
Ricardo Salinas Priego is having one of his biggest setbacks. This Thursday, November 13, after the Supreme Court ruled against him, Mexico’s fifth richest man openly declared that the resolution forcing him to repay a debt of about 50 billion pesos to the Treasury is a violation of human rights. Salinas Priego has been filing delinquent claims with the Internal Revenue Service (SAT) for 17 years, and while the exact amount has not yet been disclosed, his debt has increased almost 19 times from 2.636 billion pesos as of 2022. President Claudia Sheinbaum said of the ruling: “It’s no wonder they came to this resolution because they had already experienced various cases, including before 2018. This is justice, it’s very simple.”
The businessman has repeatedly argued that the charges sought by SAT are unfair and has taken the dispute to court through 30 lawsuits seeking tax credits. Last year, in addition to flirting with a political career, Salinas Priego combined attacks on the government with a negotiating offer to settle millions of dollars in debt to the Treasury Department.
The president upheld the court’s decision and compared the debt to the resources used for Michoacán’s peace and justice program, saying, “All of Michoacán’s welfare programs are about P30 billion, which is a very large amount.”
The world’s fifth-richest man was left with no option to avoid paying guaranteed tax credits after reforms to protection claims aimed at locking in big debtors approved by Congress in October 2025.
President Claudia Sheinbaum linked Salinas Priego to a network of accounts promoting a march called for Saturday, November 15th by young people who identify as part of Generation Z.
On Thursday, November 13, the Supreme Court unanimously approved the tax credits that the businessman had been suing for in court against SAT, although SAT had ruled against him in all previous cases. The road ended in the High Court, with a predictable outcome.
At the end of October, Salinas Priego celebrated his 70th birthday and took the opportunity to write a letter to the president, accusing the tax authorities of not complying with the agreement reached with the previous government regarding debt.
More than 22,000 people packed into the businessman’s Mexico City Arena on Saturday, October 25, to celebrate his 70th birthday. Morena’s speech began with an attack on the government, saying “they are incompetents who don’t know,” and a circus satire, with Bottargas the rat representing him and “tell me how much we have to pay to get it resolved in 10 days.”
A federal court canceled a precautionary measure to avoid debt repayments with U.S. creditors days before a mass bath on his birthday. The original debt was $400 million, but it increased to $580 million due to payment delays.
A week before the event at the Mexico City Arena, during an intimate celebration, the businessman took his flirtation with politics further. “I think it’s time for another challenge, another stage. And why not? It’s time to get rid of these damn leftists and make them have sex with their mothers,” he said in front of more than 300 guests who cheered “Mr. President, Mr. President!”
Regarding the 74 billion pesos that Mexico’s administration is demanding from her in additional taxes, the president said at a daily press conference: “We owe it here, we owe it there.” Mr. Sheinbaum accused the businessman of trying to politicize his tax bill.
The Mexican stock exchange suspended trading in the Mexican billionaire’s Grupo Electra shares at the end of September after shareholders decided to delist the company from financial markets and return to the private sector in December 2024.
The president rejected a proposal for an “open, serious and transparent” dialogue table in which businessmen sought to reach an agreement on their debts with the Treasury. The president also denied that it was a political issue, saying, “This is not a matter of negotiation in the dark.”
Salinas Priego avoided prison in Rikers, New York, by paying $25 million of a $1 million tax debt he inherited when AT&T acquired the Iusa cell phone network in 2015.
The billionaire jumped into the political scene after announcing MAAC, an anti-crime and anti-corruption movement similar to Donald Trump’s MAGA, in early September. Salinas Priego’s bet comes at a time when a waning opposition is in need of a reference point ahead of the 2027 midterm elections.
In early July, an administrative court dealt another setback for Mexico’s big conglomerates. The Thirteenth Administrative Affairs Panel denied protection to television station TV Azteca, which was challenging the ruling in a lawsuit arising from tax credits for unpaid ISRs for the years 2009, 2010, and 2013.
After five years of litigation and legal battles, Grupo Electra has lost another battle with Mexico’s Treasury Department. On the eve of this resolution, the controversial businessman tried to stop the sentencing by questioning the judge’s impartiality. However, the court dismissed the appeal because it did not provide any new elements.
The Mexican magnate, who believed he was dealing with representatives of the Astor dynasty, prominent in business, society and politics in the United States and Britain, agreed to provide $416.3 million in shares in his company, Grupo Electra, as collateral for a $113.8 million loan.
The group led by Ricardo Salinas Priego said that these social media users, all of whom are identified as so-called fourth changemakers, spread “manipulated information” related to the fact that the financial institution went bankrupt in 2023, resulting in the defection of thousands of customers and the loss of 7% of total deposits.
Chicago-based Astor Asset Management Fund issued a statement guaranteeing that Salinas Priego has not paid the $110 million loan or the corresponding interest. In response, Grupo Salinas sued Astor for fraud.
On March 20, President López Obrador announced that Salinas Priego has a tax debt of over P63 billion. The president at the time asked that the evidence regarding the businessman’s deficit be distributed for all to see. It was a way to put pressure on Salinas Priego, Mexico’s third richest man at the time.
A group of 120 National Guard troops took control of a billionaire businessman’s golf course in Huatulco, Oaxaca state. López Obrador defended the National Guard’s decision to take over the land, which the federal government considers a nature reserve.
Judge Lisa G. Beckerman ruled that Salinas Priego’s petition for involuntary bankruptcy against the company should be dismissed as a dispute of good faith.
In early 2022, the Supreme Court ordered Grupo Electra to pay a P2.636 billion debt to SAT over a period of 15 years. The businessman was unable to speak on Twitter’s X at the time because his account was temporarily blocked.
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