JOHN ROBINSON LIM GOKONGWEI JR.

John Robinson Lim Gokongwei Jr. is a Filipino business magnate, investor, and
philanthropist. He has holdings in telecommunications, financial services,
petrochemicals, power generation, aviation and livestock farming.
Born: 11 August 1926 (age 91), Xiamen, China
Net worth: 6 billion USD (2017) Forbes
Spouse: Elizabeth Yu (m. 1958)
Children: Lance Gokongwei, Robina Gokongwei, Lisa Gokongwei, MORE
Siblings: James L. Go, Johnson Go, Lily Ngochua, Henry Go
Education: University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Business School, MO

From Riches to Rags to Riches Again: The John Gokongwei Jr. Story
Not all greats start from small beginnings. Sometimes, they are born privileged, later to
be taken away from them, but succeeding once again in the future. You may have heard
of Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, Cebu Pacific, and the Robinsons
Corporation. These are all John Gokongwei Jr.’s fruits of labor which he got from pure
determination to survive.
Gokongwei Jr. was once a scion of a wealthy Filipino-Chinese clan. He was born with a
silver spoon—he was studying in one of Cebu’s premiere schools (San Carlos University),
and their family was known to be one of the richest in Cebu. Unfortunately, one day, all
these things he enjoyed were taken away from him when his father died. The creditor
seized their home and cars, their business were gone and suddenly everything he had
had disappeared.
They became flat broke. At 15, Gokongwei Jr. had to work to provide for his family. His
mother had to sell her jewelries. His siblings were sent to China where the cost of living
was cheaper. He sold roasted peanuts and opened up a small stall in the market, where
he had to compete with other vendors to sell his goods. He sold soap, candles, and
threads to earn money. Determined as he was, Gokongwei Jr. knew he had an
advantage as he was younger, therefore he used this as a strength in his job. It was in
1943 when Gokongwei Jr. began trading goods from Cebu to Manila. When the World
War II ended, he saw this as an opportunity to trade goods in the Philippines. He put up
Amasia Trading with his brother which helped bring back his siblings home to help out
with the business. He then went on to pursue other business ventures: from corn starch
manufacturing, to food production, to purchasing shares in San Miguel Corporation, the
then leading business in the 70s. He had a vision to make every Filipino fly thus the
creation of the low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific, in 2003 he established a mobile company,
in 2004 he introduced C2 beverage, and all that comprise Gokongwei Jr.’s empire, the
JG Summit holdings.
It didn’t always go smoothly—in between these success come failure. He had a hard time
to get a loan, but fortunately one bank trusted him. He started getting recognized at the
business scene but before that he had to fight for a position. His loss and failures were
broadcasted. But still he succeeded—and is now considered as a key player when it
comes to the powerful business sector.
Now, John Gokongwei Jr. is the second richest Filipino in 2016, according to Forbes
Magazine. Aside from being a business magnate, he is also a philanthropist. And with all
the businesses he owns in the country, he provides thousands of jobs to people. With his
story, he hopes to inspire people to have the determination to bounce back in life without
ever quitting.

Gokongwei’s Family Business

Gokongwei, already an established and very skilled trader and importer in the
Philippines at the time, was looking to the future and wanted to expand his company
and his businesses. Instead of just importing goods, his companies began producing
and marketing Filipino-made products, from coffee, chocolate, sugar, flour and snack
foods that competed with and often surpassed the quality of products made by huge
international companies.
As the decades passed, the Gokongwei family also established themselves in several
other industries including power, telecommunications, real estate, petrochemicals, and
air transportation. The Gokongwei companies became a captain of industry and were
marked for their innovation, leadership and global competitiveness.At present, JG
Summit six (6) core businesses: branded consumer, agro-industrial and commodity food
products in Universal Robina Corporation, real estate and hotels in Robinsons Land
Corporation and United Industrial Corporation (Singapore), telecommunications in
Digital Telecommunications Phils., Inc., petrochemicals in JG Summit Petrochemicals
Corporation, air transportation in Cebu Pacific Air, and financial services in Robinsons
Bank.
Robinsons Land Corporation is the real estate arm of the conglomerate and is one of
the industry leaders in the country. It is involved in the development and operation of
shopping malls, hotels, mixed-used properties, residential condominiums, and land and
housing developments. Robinsons Galleria Complex is the country’s first ever mixed-
use facility that creatively combined a mall, hotels, offices and condominium residences
within one development. As one of the first projects of RLC, its success set the tone for
the development of other mixed-use endeavors. This continuous effort to provide
consumers with world-class facilities and services has earned RLC one of the top slots
in the Philippine real estate industry.
To date, RLC has 32 shopping malls, 57 residential buildings, 8 office buildings, 31
housing developments and 9 hotels all over the country. Robinsons Land Corporation
continues to foster communities of harmony and to build the foundation for the dreams
of the Filipino people.

“The most important factor of all for long life is a good family.”
-John Gokongwei Jr.

Sources: http://fac.ph/top-10-richest-people-in-the-philippines/
Millionaire Acts; https://michaelyana.blogspot.com
https://www.wikipedia.com
https://www.forbes.com
ANDREW LIM TAN
Andrew Lim Tan is a Chinese Filipino billionaire with business interests in real estate,
liquor and fast food. In 2011, Forbes magazine rated him fourth on the list of the
"Philippines 40 richest" with an estimated net worth of $2 billion.
Net worth: 2.6 billion USD (2017) Forbes
Children: 4
Andrew Tan chairs the $2.7 billion Alliance Global, a holding company with interests in
food and beverage, gaming and real estate. The son of a factory worker, Andrew Tan
built his wealth developing large apartment complexes around Manila. Alliance Global
owns the country's McDonald's franchise and listed brandy company Emperador.
Andrew L. Tan is a Filipino billionaire who engages in real estate, liquor and fast food. In
2011, Forbes Magazine rated him fourth on the list of the "Philippines 40 richest" with
an estimated net worth of $2 billion from last year's $1.2 billion.

He studied accounting at University of the East. For economic reasons, he would head
to school walking rather than riding on public transportation. He then graduated.
During his early years in business, the government of Quezon City honored him
"Businessman of the Year".

Megaworld Corporation is a real estate corporation engaged in developing

condominiums.
the "best managed company" and the "best in corporate governance" in the Philippines
Founder, Chairman of the Board, Principal Executive Officer, President, Director of
Eastwood Cyber One Corporation, Director of Megaworld Globus Asia Inc and Director
of Megaworld Land Inc, Megaworld Corp.

Mr. Andrew L. Tan serves as President of Richmonde Hotel Group International Limited.
Mr. Tan serves as Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Global Group Inc. He founded
Megaworld Corp. in 1989 and has been its Chief Executive Officer.

He serves as Principal Executive Officer of Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and
President of Megaworld Foundation Inc.
From Rags to Riches: The Andrew Lim Tan Story
It is difficult to believe that authentic “rags-to-riches” sagas built on honest hard work still
happen in this modern and complex world. The son of poor immigrants from Fujian
province, south China and himself born overseas, Andrew Tan grew up in downtown
Manila dreaming of someday owning a store or small business like many of his peers’
families. As a child in Hong Kong, he and his family used to share a tenement
apartment with four other families, with only one bathroom and one concrete table for all
the tenant families’ cooking stoves. Tan recalls the apartment owner even leased out
the corridor to another family.
The young Andrew studied accounting and graduated with honors at the University of
the East, often preferring to walk to school instead of riding public jeepneys in order to
save money. Engineer Conrado Acedillo, himself a self-made man in the air-
conditioning business, recalls that he and the younger Tan used to be employees of
taipan Leonardo Ty of Union Hitachi, Ajinomoto and other businesses. He remembers
Andrew Tan as one of the most hardworking and conscientious employees of the late
Leonardo Ty.

Megaworld and Empire East as biggest condo developers

Both still in their fifties, fellow billionaire and realty developer, Senate president Manuel
“Manny” Villar Jr., acknowledges Andrew Tan as the undisputed No. 1 condominium
developer in the Philippines, surpassing even the old-rich landed clan of the Zobel-
Ayalas.

Starting from a residential condominium in Greenhills, San Juan not so long ago,
Megaworld and its sister firm Empire East Holdings, Inc. have become trendsetters in
large-scale office, residential and other real estate development projects. Tan made a
name for himself by redeveloping a former textile mill complex in Libis, Quezon City into
the commercial, office, shopping, entertainment and residential enclave known as
Eastwood City today.

After the success of Eastwood City, some of his many other urban renewal mega
projects in Metro Manila include the City Place complex in Binondo, Manila; the 25-
hectare Newport City complex beside the Villamor Golf Course; and the Manhattan
Garden City complex at the Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City.

Near the existing Makati financial district and next door to the Fort Bonifacio
development of Ayala Land, Inc. and the Jose Yao Campos family’s Greenfields Group,
Andrew Tan’s Megaworld is developing the 50-hectare McKinley Hill new township.
Megaworld is also a leader in the call centers and BPO businesses in the Philippines.

The world’s No. 1 largest-selling brandy

One of the amazing accomplishments of the self-made businessman is his unexpected

success in making his homegrown Emperador Brandy into the world’s largest-selling
brandy in terms of total number of bottles sold in 2006. This was revealed in a recent
issue of Drinks International, a UK-based publication that covers the world liquor
industry. Tan’s firm sold 7.2 million nine-liter cases of brandy last year, and plans to
soon expand into Thailand and the vast China market.

For years, Andrew Tan has kept this business operation under the radar from his more
established competitors such as Ginebra San Miguel of the San Miguel group and
Tanduay Rhum of the Lucio Tan group, both liquor brands which have been in
existence since the 19th century and iconic brand names throughout Philippine history.

How did Andrew Tan make Emperador brandy and his newer Generoso brandy top
brands, poised to soon even outsell the gin and rum liquors in the vast but highly-
competitive Philippine hard drinks market? Alliance Global Group, Inc. president
Kingson Sian, a graduate of the University of Chicago, explains that Andrew Tan
instructed the advertising firms to undertake a totally innovative campaign which shall
focus on the concept of “success.”

Instead of following the other liquor brands with their age-old strategy of producing TV
and other ads focusing on sexy women and sexy images, Tan wanted the Emperador
brand to connote success and all values associated with it such as hard work, drive,
ambition, listening to parents’ advice, professionalism and ambition. It was also Tan’s
idea to have people wearing only coats and suits in all TV and other commercials of the
Emperador brand.

The position of the Philippines’ No. 1 wealthiest billionaire has been changing in the last
three annual listings of Forbes magazine, with tobacco king Lucio Tan once being in
first place for years, replaced last year by shopping mall king Henry. Based on this flux
in the wealthiest roster and in the fast-changing business landscape of the Philippines, it
wouldn’t be surprising if the driven, passionate and visionary self-made taipan Andrew
Tan would someday become No. 1, and prove himself the new king of the pack.

“Real estate is the industry that’s closest to my heart. I wake up every morning
with a feeling of excitement, knowing that I will be building more homes and
helping more Filipinos realize their dreams of owning a home,” Tan concludes.

Sources: http://faq.ph/top-10-richest-people-in-the-philippines/
https://www.forbes.com
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.facebook.com/mcpieelhirailey