Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, worth an estimated $5 billion, has a simple message for anyone weighing bitcoin against real estate: go with the digital asset. The founder of Grupo Salinas told his wife to mortgage her house to buy bitcoin — and he's got 70% of his own investment portfolio in it.
A bitcoin maximalist's conviction
Salinas Pliego is a self-described bitcoin maximalist. That means he sees little reason to hold other cryptocurrencies or traditional assets when bitcoin exists. For him, the choice isn't just about returns. It's about what stores value better over time. He believes bitcoin wins that debate hands down against real estate, a view that puts him at odds with a lot of old-money wealth managers.
The advice that raised eyebrows
The billionaire didn't just talk the talk. He told his wife to mortgage her house to buy bitcoin. That's the kind of conviction most people reserve for emergencies. It's a bet that bitcoin will outperform not just property prices but also the interest cost of the loan. Salinas Pliego clearly thinks the math works in bitcoin's favor — and he's willing to put family assets behind that call.
How big a bet?
With a net worth around $5 billion, a 70% allocation means Salinas Pliego has roughly $3.5 billion in bitcoin. That's an enormous single-asset concentration by any standard. Most family offices or ultra-high-net-worth individuals keep bitcoin exposure below 5%. Salinas Pliego is running a portfolio that looks more like a crypto fund than a traditional billionaire's holdings.
He's not shy about it, either. In public statements he's called bitcoin the best money ever created and urged others to follow his lead. The mortgage advice to his wife is just the most personal example of that evangelism.
Whether his bet pays off is an open question. But Salinas Pliego isn't hedging. He's all in.
