John Gokongwei

Early life

Gokongwei was born in the island city of Xiamen, China to John Gokongwei Sr. and Juanita Márquez Lim, both pure ethnic Chinese. His father was a scion of a wealthy Cebu-based family with ancestral ties to China's Minnanese Fujian province, around the urban center Xiamen. Gokongwei Sr. ran multiple movie theaters which the young John frequented with friends. His great-grandfather (1859–1921; ), a young peddler from China, was Hispanized as Pedro Singson Gotiaoco () and became one of the Philippines' most prominent Chinese Filipinos. At one year old, Gokongwei was brought to Cebu to join the rest of his family and grew up entirely in Forbes Park, Cebu City.

Gokongwei attended the basic education department of University of San Carlos (USC) for primary school (graduating valedictorian) and high school under a scholarship.

The family fortune, including their home and Gokongwei's private Chinese lessons and violin rehearsals, was lost after the passing of his father to typhoid in 1939. Gokongwei was 13 years old when World War II (1939–1945) just broke out. During these difficult years, he had to make ends meet by initially supporting his family by peddling items along the streets of Cebu from his bicycle. From the years 1943 to 1945, or between the ages of 17 and 19, he became a merchant trader using a wooden boat, taking his goods to Dalahican, Lucena by sea and then to Manila by truck.

Gokongwei did not attend college, but was always passionate about reading. He later took a special dispensation to attend De La Salle University (DLSU) to obtain an MBA needed for business. In 1977, Gokongwei earned his Master of Business Administration from DLSU at the age of 51, without fear of learning late, even after his financial success. A decade later, he attended a 14-week advanced management program at Harvard to meet important businessmen and people. Gokongwei later received an honorary doctorate from USC.

Business career

After World War II, he started his own shipping company called Amasia Trading, which imported flour, onions, fruits, used clothing, old newspapers, and magazines from the United States into the Philippines.

In the early 1950s, along with his brothers and sisters who temporarily stayed in and returned from China due to hardship in the war, he started to import cigarettes and whiskey too. By 1957, seeing that trading would always generate low margins of profit San Miguel Corporation was a big customer of the company. It caused a price war and the closure of one corn starch company, which led to the dismissal of a young chemical engineer named Lucio Tan. Tan later jested with Gokongwei that he costed Tan his employment.

In 1961, he established Consolidated Food Corporation (later known as CFC Corporation, which later merged with Universal Robina Corporation), which launched its instant coffee brand Blend 45.

In November 1990, Gokongwei incorporated JG Summit Holdings was floated as a publicly listed holding company on the Manila Stock Exchange. In March 1996, his airline, Cebu Pacific Air began operations. In 2010, the airline underwent major refleeting with a $3 billion order with Airbus. From 2003, his telecommunications company Digital Telecommunications Philippines spent nearly $800 million for its mobile carrier, Sun Cellular, which was the third-largest mobile operator in the Philippines at that time before selling to the PLDT group for $1.7 billion.

In 2013, his company bought the stake of San Miguel Corporation in Meralco, Philippines's largest power distributor for close to $1.8 billion. In July 2014, Universal Robina acquired Griffin's Foods from Pacific Equity Partners, a New Zealand food producer for $609 million.

In 2014, Gokongwei attempted to mastermind a $1 billion corporate takeover of United Industrial Corporation Ltd (UIC), a Singaporean property giant of which he owned in excess of 30%. UIC controls Singapore Land, which is one of the biggest property landholders in Singapore.

He also owned Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. and Robinsons Land Corporation.

The Gokongwei family controls over $20 billion of combined market capitalization for all the companies they own.

In February 2008, Forbes Asia magazine's first Heroes of Philanthropy list included four Filipinos – Gokongwei, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Ramón del Rosario Jr. and Oscar López. The list was composed of four philanthropists each from 13 selected countries and territories in Asia.

Publications

On 29 August 2007, at the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Gokongwei's biography, John L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path of Entrepreneurship, by the university's Dr. Marites A. Khanser, was launched, and it narrated the "riches-to-rags-to-riches" story of the tai-pan. Gokongwei stated that entrepreneurship is a way out of poverty. Khanser's book also enumerated the Nine Rules of business success that Gokongwei followed since he was still a young businessman. In 2002 Gokongwei donated P200-million to the undergraduate school of management. He also gave donations to University of San Carlos, Xavier School, De La Salle University, Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu, and Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA).

Personal life

Gokongwei married Elizabeth Yu in 1958 and had six children (one son and five daughters) – Robina, then Lance, Hope, Lisa, Faith, and Marcia. All his children play an active role in the Gokongwei group.

His eldest daughter, Robina, heads the operations of Robinsons Retail, currently as a chairman after serving as the president and COO, and then as CEO of the company from 1997 until 2024. His only son, Lance, currently leads the group as president and CEO of JG Summit.

He was a second cousin once removed of Andrew Gotianun Sr., the founder of Filinvest Development Corporation. Gokongwei's great-grandfather was a half brother of Gotianun's grandfather. He is also second cousins with the Gaisano family, with Doña Modesta Singson-Gaisano being his grandaunt (his grandfather's sister) which he used to call in Hokkien , under his great-grandfather, Don Pedro Singson Gotiaoco

In addition, he was a first cousin once removed of Nikki Coseteng. His mother was the half sister of Coseteng’s maternal grandfather.

Final years and legacy

Gokongwei retired in 2016 to pass on the baton of the conglomerate to Lance and Robina. Gokongwei died peacefully at Manila Doctors Hospital on 9 November 2019, 11:41 pm, at the age of 93. Exactly one week after his death, his widow Elizabeth Yu Gokongwei died at the age of 85.

DLSU and ADMU have named their premier undergraduate colleges after him for his significant contributions to the schools: the Gokongwei College of Engineering and the John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) respectively.

References

References

1. "Board of Directors".
2. Dumlao-Abadilla, Doris. (10 November 2019). "John Gokongwei Jr., Industry Game Changer; 93". Inquirer.net.
3. Gokongwei, Lisa and Lance. (August 2001). "Mr. John's Life and Times". I Did It My Wei.
4. "Seares: John Gokongwei, a Cebuano, learned his values on life and business in Cebu".
5. Fernandez, Yvette. (19 October 2018). "Watch: John Gokongwei, Jr. Talks About School, Business, and the New Digital Age".
6. (September 1, 2024). "‘He had to give back to society’: Why John Gokongwei donated billions to education".
7. Gokongwei, John Jr.. (1 March 2002). "Speech delivered last March 1, 2002 during the launch of the Ateneo de Manila University John Gokongwei School of Management". JG Summit Holdings Inc.
8. "Company History".
9. "Grit is one of the success secrets of Lucio Tan".
10. (15 September 2014). "UIC makes unconditional $762m offer for SingLand".
11. (September 2023). "4 Filipinos in New Forbes Heroes List".
12. (8 February 2010). "Gokongwei's Nine Rules of Business Success".
13. Remo, Amy R.. (1 September 2007). "A Way out of Poverty, According to 'Mr. John'".
14. Punzalan, Justine. (20 November 2019). "John and Elizabeth Gokongwei: A Love Story Not Limited by Life on Earth". Philippine Entertainment Forum.
15. Gonzalez, Bianca. (1 September 2013). "Publishing Mogul Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng's Dream: To Own a Tiny Bookstore". The Philippine Star.
16. (19 January 2025). "Robina Gokongwei-Pe: Newly minted chair of RRH".
17. (26 July 2024). "Stanley Co taking reins of Robinsons Retail from Robina Gokongwei-Pe".
18. (26 July 2024). "Leadership transition: Robina Gokongwei to step down as CEO of Robinsons Retail".
19. Arceo-Dumlao, Tina. (17 January 2015). "Daughter Fulfills Father's Wish, Heads Giant Robinsons Retail". Inquirer.net.
20. Agustin, Victor C.. (12 January 2007). "SGV Boys Stir up KPMG Kerfuffle". Manila Standard Today.
21. Flores, Wilson Lee. (20 June 2010). "The Secret Father of President Sergio Osmeña & Forebear of John Gokongwei, Jr., Gaisanos, Gotianuns". Philstar Global.
22. "My ‘cousin’ John, dearest Iya".
23. (10 November 2019). "John Gokongwei Jr. Passes Away at 93". ABS-CBN News.
24. (16 November 2019). "John Gokongwei Jr.'s Widow Elizabeth Passes Away". ABS-CBN News.
25. (16 November 2019). "Elizabeth, Wife of 61 Years of John Gokongwei Jr., Dies One Day after His Burial". BusinessMirror.