"I salute him. "We need blood and sweat and hard work to make the Philippine economy compete globally, for our family businesses to be world class in this era of globalization. In this collection of the most popular pieces from . John Gokongweis Life & Success Story: From Selling Peanuts To Building A Business Empire, timeless business lessons we can learn from Big John, 4 Tips On How To Start Your Own Takoyaki Business. John Gokongwei Jr., owner of Cebu Pacific, died on Nov. 9 at the age of 93, according to a statement from the airline. ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW Celebrity Updates Lance followed his fathers pattern: He recruited operating talent. As recently as this June he was still on the dais at the annual shareholder meeting, next to his son and brother as they ran the show. The white rabbit the luckiest animal in the Chinese zodiac hops into Ferragamos 2023 collection. For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. I couldnt have said it any better. He checks his Bloomberg Terminal at home each weekday and has been weighing what JG Summit should do next. He came from Fujian province in China and owned a huge trading company, Gotiaoco Hermanos. A decade later, he attended a 14-week advanced management program at Harvard University.[5]. My mom only spoke half of it in her eulogy three days ago. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". His father left while his mother and five siblings returned to China. I have been part of this company for almost a decade now (2yrs to go), and I am proud to still be here to celebrate one of its biggest milestones, its 20th They were the victors at the time.. Aside from their conglomerate, JG Summit also has interests in PLDT, Manila Electric Company, and other global companies like United Industrial and more. Success Story of John Gokongwei. From left to right: Henry, Johnson, Juanita, Edward, John Sr., John Jr., and Lily Christina. Robina Y. Gokongwei-Pe is the eldest child John Gokongwei Jr., founder and Chairman Emeritus of the publicly-listed company JG Summit Holdings Inc. (JGSHI). John Robinson Lim Gokongwei Jr. was born on August 11, 1926, in Xiamen, Gulangyu Subdistrict, Republic of China, to John Gokongwei, Sr. (Go Kong Wei) and Juanita Mrquez Lim. I admired and liked him very much. Bygones might be bygonesSan Miguels chief, Ramon Ang, calls the Gokongweis one of the smartest families in the Philippines todaybut when I try to win over Gokongwei with his favored snack, handing him a pouch of peanuts, he bristles, noting the brandSan Miguel. In 1961, John Gokongwei launched another company, Consolidated Food Corporation (later renamed CFC Corporation). [14], In December 2022, Gokongwei announced his resignation as President and CEO of Cebu Pacific. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [6] San Miguel Corporation was a big customer of theirs. I said, If they can make a lot of money, so can I. He hired operators, the beginnings of Universal Robina. We cant depend on what we have now., Philippines 50 RichestCoverage Continues Here. Since then, Big John was unstoppable as he built one of the Philippines biggest business empires, the JG Summit. But just as when he first retired ten years before, at age 65, John could notdid notreally leave the drivers seat. Love your country. His funeral was held on November 15. However, his companies later dominated other sectors, such as travel, petrochemicals, energy, and banking, too. Credit: Munshi Ahmed for Forbes. Other key JG Summit businesses, including land development, banking and petrochemicals (closely held with revenues of $415 million in 2015), are run by extended family members and professionals who arent at the Gokongwei Sunday lunches but convene with James, Lance, Lisa and Robina every Friday afternoon to thrash out corporate matters. John's great-grandfather, Pedro Gotiaoco, was among the original rags-to-riches stories in the Philippines. His other. The company imported flour, fruits, onions, used clothes, old newspapers, and magazines from the U.S. This story appears in the Septemper 12, 2016 issue of Forbes Asia. You may have passed away, but your legacy will live on. With his money, Big John founded his cornstarch manufacturing company, Universal Corn Products, in 1954. All Rights Reserved. President and CEO of JG Summit Holdings Inc. Chairman of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, Inc. Robina Gokongwei-Pe, the eldest daughter, runs Robinsons Retail Holdings, the second-largest retailer in the Philippines. He liked to take care of the family, the company and people.. His father died when Gokongwei was only age 13. John died in 2019. JG Summit grew to $135 million by 1993, when it listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, and then $1.8 billion by its 50th anniversary in 2007. Lance was 28 years old, a University of Pennsylvania graduate whod worked at an American bank and done a few job rotations at JG Summit, when he says his father approached him with news hed bought four aircraft and asked him to run their new airline business. Justin smiled, saying: We talked about coffee and dating. Still, in 1999 president Joseph Erap Estrada filed a 101 million pesos ($2.6 million then) libel lawsuit against the familys Manila Times, then run by Robina, after the newspaper called Estrada an unwitting godfather for approving a disputed power contract. Gokongwei's only son, Lance, is its chief executive officer. None of the events that happened in our familys lives would have happened without you. I'm Cebuano. Through his efficient and competitive businesses, the visionary Gokongwei brought down prices for consumers with his budget airline, affordable foods, and unli-texts and unli-calls for cellphones. ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW Exactly a week later, November 16, 2019, Elizabeth also died. His conglomerate company JG Summit Holdings, Inc., had an extensive panoply of business and investment holdings across the Filipino economy, including shipping, telecommunications, retail, financial services, petrochemicals, utilities, aviation, food, beverages, and livestock farming. Directors and San Miguel Corporation. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Yesterday morning, Friday, at Heritage Park in Taguig City, Justin Pe paid his last respects to his departed grandfather, the industrialist John Gokongwei Jr. with a heartfelt eulogy both touching and funny. John Gokongwei was the son of a businessman who owned several movie theaters in the island province of Cebu. The airline is a subsidiary of JG Summit Holdings, controlled by the Gokongwei family - one of the richest Filipino- Chinesefamilies based in the Philippines. The Gokongwei family controls over $20 billion of combined market capitalization for all the companies they own. The program started in the mid 1990's and has graduated roughly 1,400 students, a majority of whom are now in the marketing, communications, media . It is now the biggest player in the ready-to-drink tea and cup noodles business and the second-largest in the coffee sector in the Philippines. He told me it was the least he could do for someone who had done so much for the Philippines. He also owned Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. and Robinsons Land Corporation. Subscribe to Forbes Asia. I often visited my Angkong to play mahjong, along with my grandmother and cousin Therese. I was really shocked that someone who was 78 could beat me in swimming. In addition, Gokongwei named publicly-listed company Universal Robina Corporation after her. He taught us everything that we needed to know, said eldest Gokongwei grandchild Justin Pe yesterday in his eulogy for his grandfather. In the 1970s he lost a lawsuit to try to get on the board of competing food company San Miguel Corp., despite having bought enough shares to join the board. Mariing kinondena ng pamahalaan ng Pilipinas ang panibagong ballistic missile test na ginawa ng North Korea. Within six months, he says, he managed to drive the price of cornstarch down by 50%. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But one in particular made me pause and reflect. John Robinson Lim Gokongwei, Jr. (traditional Chinese: ; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: W Yhu; Peh-e-j: G Ek-hui; born Go Ek-hui) is a Filipino business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Gokongwei's youngest brother, JG chairman, James Go received 174,942 shares. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. At the age of 17, Big John rediscovered his familys love for trading and expanded his business. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Below is a letter Lance wrote for his two children, Hannah and Jacob, sharing the greatest lessons he learned from his father. Advertise With Us. He was 93 years old at the time of his death. In 1958, John and Elizabeth got married and had six beautiful children: Robina, Lance, Lisa, twins Faith, Hope, and Marcia. 8List Editor. He never gave up in what he believed in, always took risks, and continuously learned new things. He pointed at me and called me, and in his grungy voice, asked me directly without blinking: How are our coffee sales? I responded: Were doing much better this month Angkong! Buy PhilSTARs Tagalog tabloid Pilipino STAR Ngayon every Friday and read my column Kuwentong Panadero. Read also https://investment.fwd.com.ph/experts/asia-s-business-leaders-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them. About Lance Yu Gokongwei (born 23 November 1966) is President and CEO of JG Summit Holdings Inc., one of the largest Filipino conglomerates,[1] with interests in food (Universal Robina), air transport (Cebu Pacific), real estate and property development (Robinsons Land Corp.), banking (Robinsons Bank), and petrochemicals (JG Summit Olefins Corp.)[1][2] He also has a stake in Robinsons Retail, one of Philippines' largest retailers, which was started by his father as a department store in 1980. At some point after the meal he slips away, and his only son, Lance, is summoned for quiet talk about the family business, JG Summit, which the host founded in 1957 and which today is the second-largest family-run business in the Philippines, with a market capitalization of $13.2 billion. And so John and Elizabeth had six children, Robina, Lance, Lisa, Faith, Hope, and Marcia raised in the love and care of family who all "turned out pretty good," in Lance's own "humble" opinion, he said. Indeed, for the don of JG Summit, retirement remains an unnatural act. Follow @wilsonleeflores on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. According to a later Manila Times recap, [T]errorized by Estradas wrath, the Gokongweis were forced to apologize to stop him and soon after sold the newspaper in a deal allegedly orchestrated by Estrada. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. "Our beloved husband, father and grandfather . The discussion ended with that, no resolution, just an exchange of positions and shortly after Mr. John left the room my father sat down with me, had a few more glasses of whiskey and told me that I have to remember that at one point it would no longer be about the money.. . [16] In 2020, the company was hit by quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2002 Gokongwei donated P200-million to the undergraduate school of management. What did they talk about in that last conversation? John Gokongwei Jr., whose rags-to-riches story has inspired many Filipino entrepreneurs, died on November 9 at . At least I had some suits and education," says Gokongwei. My thay-kong (Hokkien for great-grandpa) wasnt able to prepare well for his succession in the case of my grandfather, who was his eldest son. In February 2008, Forbes Asia magazine placed him on their list of the Heroes of Philanthropy. The list included three other Filipinos, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Oscar Lpez, and Ramn del Rosario Jr. John Gokongwei was married to Elizabeth Yu from 1958 until his death in 2019. The Bachelor of Science in Management major in Communications Technology Management Program is a 4 year degree (including 3 summer semesters) program of the John Gokongwei School of Management. After the war, Big John took it as a good opportunity to expand his trading business abroad. Though he belonged to an affluent trading family, he lost all his wealth after his fathers death. And now at your old age to tear away from it, its very hard.. He received his Masters degree in Business Administration from De La Salle University in 1977 and has, since then, been an ardent supporter of education. Lisa is in charge of Summit Media. [citation needed], In 2020, Gokongwei was named a member of board of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), representing the business enterprise sector. He quickly disagreed, saying: No, were different. He enjoys reading and exercising [37], and was a finisher in the 2009 New York Marathon [38]. As for himself, he says its time for him to enjoy life and focus on philanthropy. On dating, Angkong actually asked me: Do you have a girlfriend? I replied: No. He then advised me: Alright, play around, play around., What were Gokongweis pieces of advice to his grandson? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It has also provided the content and technology teachers and other stakeholders need to develop their skills as educators." It was at this moment that I realized that we had lost more than an uncle and a boss; sometimes we are just too close to the situation that we dont see the forest for the trees. Gokongwei married Elizabeth Yu in 1958 and had six children (one son and five daughters) Lisa, Robina, Lance, Faith, Hope and Marcia. [7] The following year, he partnered with Japan's Calbee and France's Danone for potato chips and beverages respectively. The Gokongwei family, listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the country's wealthiest, officially launched the Gokongwei Group master brand that will embrace all the diverse businesses in their portfolio which includes some of the Philippines' top corporations. He also made generous donations to institutes such as the University of San Carlos, the De La Salle University, the Sacred Heart School, the Xavier School, and the Immaculate Conception Academy. Go told Usapang Bilyonaryo how his beloved Uncle John made sure he had options in a media career after seeing how he loved writing in college. When John was 13 years old, his father died suddenly due to typhoid fever. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Last November 9, 2020, marks the first death anniversary of John Gokongwei Jr., a Filipino business tycoon and philanthropist who founded JG Summit, one of the largest conglomerates in the country. The couple had six children: their son, Lance, and their five daughters, Lisa, Robina, Faith, Hope, and Marcia. At the age of 93, Big John died surrounded by his family at the Manila Doctors Hospital on November 9, 2019. [10][11] All his children play an active role in the Gokongwei group. Tweet John Gokongwei Jr. Love your family. [14], Gokongwei died in Manila on 9 November 2019, at the age of 93. Ferragamo celebrates the Year of the Rabbit with an edited selection of ready-to-wear styles and iconic accessories combining St. Theresas College: 75 years of polishing diamonds in the rough. He was asking me about the sales of Great Taste Coffee and I said, Were up based on recent data. He had a very big smile. He soon realized he could do more if he had a bicycle. The Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur and philanthropist died Saturday night, Nov. 9, 2019 at the age of 93 surrounded by family at the Manila Doctors Hospital in Manila.. His status as the country's third richest businessman, with a wealth of $5.3 billion according to Forbes magazine was . His father, John Jr., established JG Summit Holdings Inc., while his mother, Elizabeth, was a founding member of Robinsons Department Store. Mr. John Gokongwei, Jr. November 14, 2019. Pedro Gotiaoco was a peddler who settled in Cebu after migrating from Fujian, China. His in-laws and grandchildren; brothers Eddie and James Go (chairman of JF Summit), sister Lily; and his nieces and nephews count among his descendants. In 2003, John launched his telecom company, Digital Telecommunications Philippines, which invested almost $800 million to establish its mobile carrier, Sun Cellular, the third-largest mobile operator in the country back then. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. 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