The late John Gokongwei was the third richest person in the Philippines when he died in 2019. He was also consistently on Forbes’s top billionaires’ list. Although a billionaire, he proved to the world how paying it forward can go hand-in-hand with a successful business. With holdings in power generation, aviation, food and beverage, livestock farming, and telecommunications, he left a legacy to inspire any entrepreneur who dreams of making it big like him.
The Beginnings
Although born in China, the late John Gokongwei’s father was a scion of a wealthy Cebu-based family who has ancestral ties to the South Fujian province in China. His father was then Hispanized and became one of the Philippines’ most prominent figures.
When World War II ended, he started Amasia, his own company which imported fruit, onions, flour, used clothing, and old magazine and newspapers from the United States.
However, the late Gokongwei’s family lost all their fortune when his father died. He was 13 years old at that time. To support his family, he sold roasted peanuts to his classmates. Later on, he sold soap, thread, and candles along the streets of Cebu. Using the profits he made, he went back and forth from Cebu to Manila to sell in a bigger market.
The Rise to Success of John Gokongwei
When his siblings came to the Philippines in the early 50s, he imported cigarettes and whisky. However, toward the end of the decade, he realized that trading depends on government policies and would always have low margins. As such, the family leaned toward manufacturing
Armed with a Php500,000.00 loan from the then chairman of China Bank and another person, the Gokongwei started Universal Corn Products, a corn milling. It would then become the familiar moniker to Filipinos, Universal Robina Corporation. San Miguel Corporation was a big customer of the company back then.
Forging Forward
Come 1961, the late Gokongwei started Consolidated Food Corporation, which produced the instant coffee brand Blend 45. It became known as CFC Corporation and later merged with Universal Robina Corporation.
In the midst of successful business launches, the late Gokongwei did not forgo learning. He earned his MBA from De La Salle University in 1977. Later, he attended a 14-week advanced management program at Harvard.
In the 90s, the late Gokongwei made public his incorporated JG Summit Holdings. Then in 1996, his slew of businesses included aviation. Cebu Pacific Air began operations. In 2010, the airline would undergo major refleeting with a USD3 billion order of airbus.
In 2003, he dabbled in digital telecommunications and gave birth to the mobile carrier, Sun Cellular. Later, PLDT bought it for Php1.7 billion.
He would later buy the stake of San Miguel Corporation in MERALCO, the country’s sole electricity provider. Universal Robina Corporation would then acquire Griffin’s Food from Pacific Equity Partners, a New Zealand food company. Robinson’s Retail Holdings, Inc. and Robinson’s Land Corporation would also come to picture in the more recent times.
The Gokongwei family boasts of having USD20 billion of combined market and capitalization from all the companies they own.
The Lasting Legacy of John Gokongwei
So it’s not surprising how the late John Gokongwei always made it to the illustrious and coveted Forbes list.
Although he had gone from the world, his son, Lance Gokongwei, gave Filipinos the opportunity to get to know some of the business tenets his father valued.
For the late Gokongwei, family and living a simple life by working hard and creating and investing in experiences and memories are priceless.
His children never wore nor used branded items, nor did they receive cash gifts as presents. Instead, they earned their keep in the businesses their late father runs. Likewise, spending time at the dinner table free of gadgets is a sacred time and place for the proliferation of ideas for the late Gokongwei as shared in his son’s book, “Lessons from Dad.”
Business-wise, the late Gokongwei stresses the importance of working to put food on the table and seeking advice from others because, for him, learning is an unending process.
Being a father to five daughters, he believes that women are on equal levels as men, and maybe even smarter.
But above everything else, he perceives helping as an infinite circle. He explains that as friends and family assist one during hard times, remembering them when one is able is right, along with paying it forward and involving the self in advocacies.
From riches to rags to riches, the late Gokongwei is the epitome of how success in business and philanthropy can be married together and serve as an enduring legacy to everyone.
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