For years, Ricardo Salinas Pliego has wielded the Mexican legal system like a weapon — using injunctions, procedural traps, and endless appeals to keep foreign creditors at bay. But this time, the fortress cracked. A U.S. federal judge has delivered a devastating blow to Salinas and TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V., stripping away one of the last tools the billionaire has relied on to protect his business empire from collapse.
In a 40-page opinion issued on September 22, 2025, Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted an anti-suit injunction against TV Azteca, barring it from continuing or initiating legal proceedings in Mexico tied to its defaulted $400 million debt.
The ruling is scathing. It calls the company’s actions “a classic example of forum shopping and delay,” slams its use of secretive Mexican court proceedings, and brands the litigation as vexatious. More importantly, it demolishes the legal firewall Salinas has spent years building around his empire.
“The defendant’s resort to Mexican courts — including secret, ex parte proceedings before a purportedly friendly judge — to stymie enforcement of the Indenture is a classic example of forum shopping and delay, and threatens the jurisdictional integrity of the U.S. forum.”
A Debt That Has Been Festering for Years
TV Azteca issued $400 million in unsecured notes in 2017, governed by New York law and bearing 8.25% interest. The company was supposed to make interest payments twice a year. By early 2021, those payments stopped. Creditors waited. The company remained silent. The default stretched on.
When noteholders finally invoked the acceleration clause in 2022, demanding immediate repayment, TV Azteca refused to confront the issue in New York as it was contractually obligated to do. Instead, it ran back to Mexico.
In July 2022, the company filed a lawsuit in a Mexican court claiming the acceleration notice was invalid. Two months later, it filed another, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic as an “act of God” that supposedly made payment impossible. Both cases resulted in ex parte injunctions issued behind closed doors.
These injunctions effectively froze any collection efforts inside Mexico, allowing TV Azteca to buy time and keep creditors locked out. It was a familiar strategy: delay long enough, hope creditors break, and keep the empire intact.
But the U.S. Court Slammed the Door Shut
This time, the U.S. judiciary was having none of it. Judge Gardephe’s order forces TV Azteca to dismiss the Mexican lawsuits and bans it from filing new foreign proceedings on the matter. It is a rare but powerful legal remedy — and a clear message that the company’s tactics crossed the line.
The judge found that:
- TV Azteca’s Mexican litigation directly violated the forum selection clause in the 2017 indenture.
- The company’s conduct was vexatious, abusive, and aimed at undermining the court’s authority.
- The Mexican injunctions were obtained in secret to block legitimate creditor claims.
- The foreign litigation posed a real and immediate threat to U.S. jurisdiction.
- TV Azteca engaged in blatant forum shopping to delay payment.
“The Mexican actions contravene the clear contractual agreement to litigate in New York, and threaten the integrity of this Court’s jurisdiction.”
The ruling strips away the illusion of control Salinas’s legal team had carefully crafted. By removing Mexico as a shield, creditors can now push forward with enforcement in the United States — fast and unopposed.
The Strategic Firewall Is Gone
For decades, Salinas has relied on his ability to fight on home turf. Mexican courts have often been slow, bureaucratic, and, in some cases, highly favorable to politically connected businessmen. That environment allowed him to neutralize foreign claims for years without resolving them.
Now, the judge’s opinion effectively exposes the strategy for what it is: a stalling game.
Without that firewall, the legal landscape tilts sharply in favor of creditors. They can now obtain and enforce judgments in New York without interference from Mexican injunctions. They can go after U.S.-based assets. They can pursue assets in third countries. The old playbook no longer works.
A Broader Legal Storm
This ruling comes at a moment of escalating pressure across Salinas’s business empire.
- In September, Salinas posted a $25 million bond to avoid arrest in New York in a separate debt case involving AT&T Inc.. That case remains ongoing, and the bond is a reminder that his personal exposure is growing.
- In Mexico, he recently lost a key tax case involving more than 3.5 billion pesos owed to the federal tax authority, part of a long-running dispute over back taxes.
- Analysts warn that rating agencies are watching closely. The legal shield that once delayed accountability is crumbling, and if U.S. enforcement accelerates, it could trigger further downgrades.
- TV Azteca already faced an involuntary Chapter 11 petition in U.S. bankruptcy court, filed by frustrated bondholders. That case was dismissed, but the debt did not disappear. This ruling gives those same creditors new ammunition.
This is not simply one ruling in one lawsuit. It’s the beginning of a much larger unraveling.
The Language That Will Haunt Them
Legal observers were struck not only by the substance of the ruling but by the tone. The court did not mince words. Calling the company’s behavior vexatious and forum shopping is not routine language. It is the language of a judge who has lost patience.
Such language is damaging. It can be cited in future cases. It can undermine settlement leverage. It can taint a company’s reputation in financial markets. And it can embolden regulators and other plaintiffs to act more aggressively.
When a federal court brands your company as playing dirty, every future courtroom becomes more hostile.
Cracks in the Salinas Empire
Ricardo Salinas built a sprawling business empire, from media and retail to finance and banking. His companies, including Grupo Elektra and Banco Azteca, have enjoyed years of political and legal insulation in Mexico. But this insulation does not extend beyond the border.
U.S. courts are not impressed by influence or power in Mexico. They care about contracts, jurisdiction, and enforcement. Salinas signed a contract under New York law. Now, that contract has returned with a vengeance.
The fallout will not stop at TV Azteca. If creditors successfully enforce judgments in the U.S., they may target other assets. Cross-default clauses could be triggered. Lenders and investors may tighten their terms or walk away entirely.
This is the kind of legal shock that can ripple through an entire corporate empire.
A Warning That Will Echo
This ruling isn’t just a setback. It is a turning point. It demonstrates that U.S. courts will not tolerate foreign litigation schemes meant to derail jurisdiction. It sends a warning to Salinas and to any company operating under U.S. law while hiding behind foreign protections: those days are ending.
For creditors, this is an opening. For Salinas, it is a crisis. And for his empire, it may be the beginning of the end.
References
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1%3A2022cv08164/586839/97/
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/2025-09-24/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/2025-09-30/sheinbaum-abre-la-puerta-a-reunirse-con-los-acreedores-de-salinas-pliego-en-estados-unidos.html
https://elpais.com/mexico/economia/2024-10-24/los-frentes-abiertos-de-salinas-pliego-de-la-deuda-millonaria-en-ee-uu-a-las-suspensiones-de-elektra-en-la-bolsa.html
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/mexican-tycoons-retail-chain-ordered-to-pay-1-billion-in-back-taxes-d7b6e565