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10 Top Pinoy Entrepreneurs

This document profiles 10 top Pinoy entrepreneurs who have had significant success and influence in business. It discusses their backgrounds and what they credit as contributing to their success. The entrepreneurs featured come from a variety of industries including fashion, food, retail, and real estate. The number one entrepreneur profiled is Henry Sy, the retail giant behind SM Group of Companies and the richest man in the Philippines, who credits his success to hard work, tenacity, and an undying thirst for learning.

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269 views7 pages

10 Top Pinoy Entrepreneurs

This document profiles 10 top Pinoy entrepreneurs who have had significant success and influence in business. It discusses their backgrounds and what they credit as contributing to their success. The entrepreneurs featured come from a variety of industries including fashion, food, retail, and real estate. The number one entrepreneur profiled is Henry Sy, the retail giant behind SM Group of Companies and the richest man in the Philippines, who credits his success to hard work, tenacity, and an undying thirst for learning.

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sherryl
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10 Top Pinoy Entrepreneurs

Extraordinary business leaders leave their mark when they create brands that shape the
lives of consumers. For its 10th anniversary issue, Entrepreneur Philippines puts the
spotlight on 10 great Pinoy entrepreneurs who are not only known for raking in the big
bucks, but as game-changers who influence, innovate and inspire.

10. Rajo Laurel

World-renowned fashion designer Rajo Laurel says his love affair with fashion started when he
was 11. "I often daydreamed about beautiful women drifting by, dressed in elegant gowns made
from rich fabrics... these daydreams would end up in notebooks," Laurel
tells Entrepreneur. Rajo Laurel Enterprises has built multiple brands and crafted clothing lines to
dress the country's elite, and has landed him the cover of US fashion magazine Women's Wear
Daily for his "cobweb" dress. To date, his muses include some of the most prominent local
personalities, including former presidents Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
9. George Yang
 

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"You have to think thrice before going into this business," master McDonald's franchisee George Yang
tells Entrepreneur. It took him five years to convince the All-American hamburger chain to do business in
Manila, and competition was fierce when he finally opened the first McDonald's branch in 1981. After all,
he had to introduce the global brand to a local market that already had a long-standing favorite fast food
chain. Yang says it wasn't easy, but with the help of his son, Golden Arches president and CEO Kenneth
Yang, the Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur says the key to his success was adapting to the local culture.

8. Ben Chan

Retail mogul Ben Chan founded Bench with the intention of improving the quality of Manila's
retail scene. Chan credits the clothing line's success to a number of things: being picky about
celebrity endorsers, having an adventurous attitude in advertising, and making a lot of mistakes
along the way. "Sometimes it's just a matter of the market not being ready," Chan
tells Entrepreneur. "Other times we just didn't get it right. I look at these trials as lab work: you
can't expect to get the perfect formula on the first try, but then you're also smarter about what
doesn't work and you know better the next time."
 

7. Socorro Ramos

Even in her late 80s, the woman behind the country's oldest and largest bookstore chain is still
working, and refuses to retire anytime soon. Socorro Ramos opened the first National Bookstore
in Escolta with her husband more than 60 years ago, and has established 70 more locations and
employed 2,5000 employees since then. To date, Nanay Coring, as Ramos is otherwise known,
has several accolades in her name: the Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in
Entrepreneurship  in 1991,  Department of Trade and Industry's Outstanding Filipino Retailer
Award in 2005, and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Philippines in 2005. "All
my life I've never had a vacation, but I'm not complaining," Ramos says. "It's fun!"
 

6. Jose Concepcion Jr.


Concepcion is the chairman of RFM Corp., one of the leading food and beverage conglomerates
in the Philippines. Established in 1958 as the Republic Flour Mills, the company has delved into
agriculture, poultry, livestock, soft drinks, ice cream, fruit juice, and noodle manufacturing,
among other things. Concepcion is the father of eight entrepreneurs, all of which were groomed
by him. In his Entrepreneur  interview, the food and beverage tycoon emphasizes the need to
properly train the young so they develop the leadership skills necessary to run a business. "You
don’t wait until you die before turning over the reigns," he says.
 5. Tony Tan Caktiong

Tan has yet to open the grocery store he dreamed of as a kid, but as the CEO of real
estate giant Megaworld, he can "build one every week" if he wants to,
says Entrepreneur. Tan’s Megaworld Properties and Holdings is currently estimated at
P30 billion, and its affiliate--Empire East Landholdings--is considered one of the leaders
in the property sector. His first business venture, the Consolidated Distillers of the Far
East, is the third biggest distillery in Manila. "Most entrepreneurs are good salesmen,"
says this accounting grad who graduated magna cumlaude. "But a good salesman, who
is also good at numbers could also become a good entrepreneur."
 
3. John Gokongwei Jr.
 

John Gokongwei’s rags-to-riches story is one of the most inspiring tales in the local business
scene. His humble beginnings more than 60 years ago include selling soap on his bike and
peddling goods in Cebu. Today, he's the chairman and founder of JG Summit Holdings, one of
the biggest conglomerates in the country. "You have to save money instead of spending all of it,"
Gokongwei tells Entrepreneur. "Look for areas [where] you can compete in. Work damn hard.
Most importantly, you have to love it."

2. Lucio Tan

For many years, Lucio Tan's many business endeavors has made him the second-biggest
taxpayer in the country. Tan built multiple empires in a number of industries--airline, banking,
tobacco, liquor, and real estate--but surprisingly, the Chinese businessman’s lifelong dream was
to be a scientist. "I was part of a poor immigrant family, so I had to work harder than everyone,"
Tan tells Entrepreneur. "Perhaps I was really destined to be an entrepreneur, although up to
now, my childhood dream of studying science continues to fascinate me to no end."
 

1. Henry Sy

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He's the retail giant behind the SM Group of Companies and is also among Forbes.com's
billionaire list with American bigwigs like publishing tycoon William Hearst III, hotelier
Richard Mariott, and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. The richest man in the country credits his
success to "hard work, tenacity, frugality, self-discipline, Confucian values, and an undying thirst
for learning," according to Entrepreneur. "I don't give up on things easily," the 85-year-old
says. "I look for solutions to problems. I want to make things happen."

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