For decades, Ricardo Salinas Pliego has built his fortune not only through business ventures but through obstruction, delay, and defiance. When regulators came calling, he attacked them. When creditors demanded payment, he hid behind Mexico’s court system. When foreign courts ruled against him, he ignored them.
Now, one of those courts — a federal court in New York — is done waiting.
On October 16, 2025, the Trustee representing holders of TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V.’s $400 million in defaulted bonds filed a motion asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to hold both TV Azteca and Grupo Salinas in contempt of court. The charge is simple — and devastating: the companies defied a federal injunction issued less than a month earlier by Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
That injunction, issued on September 22, ordered TV Azteca and anyone acting under its control to immediately dismiss all ongoing Mexican lawsuits related to its bond default and to stop filing new ones. It was the first major legal blow to Salinas’s “delay until they give up” strategy.
But the Trustee now says TV Azteca didn’t comply. It doubled down.
A Timeline of Defiance
The Trustee’s contempt filing outlines a rapid-fire series of Mexican court actions that TV Azteca allegedly took after the injunction took effect:
- October 1: TV Azteca filed a motion in Mexico’s Thirty-Eighth Superior Court to continue processing letters rogatory — directly violating the U.S. court’s order.
- October 7: It requested new letters rogatory to drag additional U.S. parties into the blocked proceedings.
- October 8: It intervened in yet another Mexican court, the Tenth Circuit in Civil Matters, attempting to recuse magistrates involved in an amparo appeal.
Each filing advanced the very litigation the injunction was meant to stop. And TV Azteca did all this without any stay from the U.S. court.
“The injunction is fully in force, and TV Azteca is required to comply with it,” the Trustee wrote. “Defendants are not entitled to grant themselves a stay by running out the clock before seeking relief.”
In legal terms, this isn’t just noncompliance — it’s contemptuous behavior. In practical terms, it’s a multinational company thumbing its nose at the authority of a federal judge.
The Consequences Could Be Severe
A contempt finding could unleash far-reaching consequences across Salinas’s business network. The court could impose daily financial penalties, expand discovery into Grupo Salinas and its subsidiaries, and even open the door to personal liability for Ricardo Salinas himself.
The Trustee’s filing explicitly points out Salinas’s central role: as chairman of both TV Azteca and Grupo Salinas, he is “directly in a position to cause TV Azteca to comply or not comply.”
This is not the first time a Salinas company has been accused of disregarding U.S. court orders. Earlier this year, one of his telecom affiliates was held in contempt in a separate dispute with AT&T Inc.. Salinas was forced to post a $25 million bond to avoid arrest.
If the court finds contempt in the TV Azteca case, the reputational damage — and financial exposure — could be devastating. It would place one of Mexico’s richest and most politically connected businessmen squarely in the crosshairs of the U.S. judiciary.
The Playbook That No Longer Works
Salinas’s approach has always relied on one fundamental assumption: that Mexican courts can shield him from foreign accountability. When TV Azteca stopped paying interest on its $400 million notes in early 2021, it didn’t negotiate. Instead, it filed lawsuits in Mexico, obtained injunctions, and effectively froze enforcement for years.
That worked — until Judge Gardephe stepped in. In his September opinion, he called TV Azteca’s behavior “a classic example of forum shopping and delay.” His injunction was designed to end the charade once and for all.
Now, with TV Azteca allegedly violating that same order, the case has shifted from a financial dispute to a crisis of judicial defiance.
This isn’t just a company refusing to pay — it’s a company refusing to obey.
A Broader Pattern of Evasion
The contempt filing fits into a much larger story of legal and financial evasion that has defined Salinas’s empire in recent years.
In Mexico, Salinas has been locked in a multi-year tax war with the federal government, accused of owing more than 3.5 billion pesos in back taxes. The Supreme Court recently cleared the way for enforcement to proceed, after years of appeals.
At the same time, his retail and banking operations — Grupo Elektra and Banco Azteca — have faced regulatory scrutiny over compliance, liquidity, and capital reserves.
And in the United States, creditors have been circling. After years of defaults, evasions, and procedural stalling, the patience of the courts appears to have run out.
What was once a powerful, untouchable empire is now facing legal siege on both sides of the border.
The Empire in Decline
Contempt of court isn’t just another lawsuit. It’s a declaration that the system no longer trusts you to follow the law.
If TV Azteca is found in contempt, it will mark a turning point — not only for the bondholders, but for the U.S. courts’ approach to cross-border defiance. For Salinas, it could mean personal exposure, escalating fines, and the end of his ability to operate internationally without consequence.
The image of the defiant billionaire — tweeting insults at tax authorities, mocking reporters, and dismissing judges — has begun to crumble under the weight of reality.
The contempt motion represents something larger: the collapse of Salinas’s myth of invincibility. For years, he’s relied on his political power and Mexico’s opaque legal system to outlast every opponent. But U.S. judges don’t negotiate with arrogance. They enforce orders.
And this time, they’re out of patience.
The Final Chapter of a Long Game
The coming months will determine whether TV Azteca — and by extension, the Salinas empire — can survive the mounting pressure. If Judge Gardephe rules in favor of the Trustee, the court could impose penalties severe enough to trigger cascading defaults and force asset seizures.
This would send a clear message across the Americas: that corporate nationalism will not shield multinational defaulters from international accountability.
For Salinas, it’s a nightmare scenario. A contempt ruling would cement his image not as a visionary mogul, but as a serial defier of the rule of law.
The empire built on delay, defiance, and denial may finally be running out of time.
References
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2022cv08164/586839/97/
https://tlblog.org/sdny-grants-anti-suit-injunction-against-tv-azteca/
https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-09-24/ricardo-salinas-pliego-evita-la-carcel-en-estados-unidos-al-pagar-25-millones-de-dolares-de-fianza-por-una-deuda-a-att.html
https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-07-10/ricardo-salinas-pliego-pierde-otro-juicio-fiscal-tv-azteca-debera-pagar-mas-de-3500-millones-de-pesos-al-fisco-mexicano.html
https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-09-30/sheinbaum-abre-la-puerta-a-reunirse-con-los-acreedores-de-salinas-pliego-en-estados-unidos.html
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/mexican-tycoons-retail-chain-ordered-to-pay-1-billion-in-back-taxes-d7b6e565