Philippine Business Tycoon ( Saga of Success )

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out..."-Robert Collier

Three of the most popular tycoon in the Philippines own the businesses like Sun Cellular, SM Mall of Asia and Jollibee. Learn and inspire how they start to create the powerful companies and corporations here in the Philippines.


John Gokongwei- died his father when he was 13, became a youngest vendor in cebu market and sell simple products such as soap and candles. earning P20/ day half century ago.

First product is Blend 45. And from there, he had enough profits to launch Jack and Jill. From one market stall, he is now in nine core businesses-including retail [Robinsons Retail Group], real estate [Robinsons Land Corporation, Robinson Galleria, Manila Midtown Hotels, etc.], publishing, petrochemicals [JG Petrochem], textiles [Litton Mills], banking [Robinsons Savings Bank], food manufacturing [Universal Robina Corporation], Cebu Pacific Air and Sun Cellular [plus Digitel].

Read inspirational speech of Mr. Gokongwei at the 20th Ad Congress last November 2007 and at The Ateneo Entrepreneurship.

Henry Sy- a man who was once a poor boy who moved to the Philippines from China when he was 13 years old, hoping for better life.

After the war, he started selling shoes along the streets of Azcarraga (CM Recto) and soon he got an opportunity to have a shoe store along Avenida Rizal in 1958.

His net worth is $1.7 billion and according to Forbes as of 2007 he is 349th richest man in the world.. founder and chairman of SM Prime Holdings. controls Banco de Oro, Universal Bank and China Bank. 34% owner of of EPCI bank and in yr 2006 he bought the remaining 66% and merge it to Banco de Oro. Also the owner of The Podium (mall) located in ortigas. Now he is known as "Retail King" of Asia.

Tony Tan Caktiong- Tony and his brothers who grew up working in Chinese restaurant in Davao is now the head of Jollibbee, the biggest and most popular fast-food chain in the Philippines. from ice cream parlor in cubao (1975), he also added some stuff like his customer requested to him such as burgers. Now he has fast-food around the world- he also owns Chowking, Greenwich , Delifrance (local franchise), Yonghe King (China)

Before Mc Donald's came in the Philippines, He already flew and studied the company in the U.S. When McDonalds came, Jollibee has already established with 9 branches in the Philippines. He uses the ideas of his business rival as a tool and weapon to compete ( the colorful uniform of employees, the design of the store, the mascot, and the product itself). from then, rest is history.

Tony Tan's Tips:

1. Focus on what you can control - your business, not the environment
2. Find creative ways to grow your business and to reach your customers
3. Be conservative in your cash management
4. Prepare for the bad times by making the right decisions during the good times
5. Make sure that you hire tough employees to help you weather the storm
6. Make it a habit to listen to everyone, including your employees

See the Top 40 richest man in the Philippines as of year 2007 in pinoymoneytalk.com

"I was born poor, but poor was not born in me. And it shouldn’t be born in you either. You can make it. Whatever you may wish to do with your future, you can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes always. Challenges breed character. Character breeds faith. In the end, faith will not disappoint. You must not disappoint."- Manuel V. Pangilinan(PLDT)