Lucio Tan (Philippines)

Cigarettes, Beer And Airline Tycoon

Image from Asiaweek

Biodata:

BORN:           July 17, 1934, in Amoy, Fujian province, China

EDUCATION:            BS Chemical Engineering, Far Eastern University, Manila

FAMILY:                  Married

Lucio Tan is the richest industrialist in the Philippines, with a personal net

worth of at least $1.5 billion. Known to be shrewd but secretive and reclusive,

Tan has extensive investments in China and Hong Kong.

Building an Empire Around Beer and Cigarettes

Over the past three decades, Lucio Tan single-handedly built an empire

spanning the Philippines to Canada, all this while wheeling and dealing firmly

behind closed doors.

Tan was born in China's Fujian province.  His family moved to the Philippines

when he was a child.  He studied chemistry in Manila, but quit before

graduating to take on a job in a tobacco factory.  This prompted the

nonsmoker to start his own cigarette company, Fortune Tobacco in 1966. 

The company expanded rapidly, and the introduction of a budget brand,

Hope, in 1975, raked in even greater wealth for Tan.

In the 1970s, Tan secured permission from resident Marcos to establish a brewing

business, Asian Breweries.  It was the only brewery allowed to challenge the

supremacy of San Miguel Corp, whose trademark beer dominates the local

market.

In 1977, Tan acquired a defunct bank from the government, and revived it

quickly. Now known as Allied Banking Corp, it is one of the top banks in the

Philippines, and providing sound backing for Tan's foray into brewing and real

estate.

In 1993, he secured control of Philippine Airlines PAL after a bitter ownership

feud.

Connections and the One-Horse Man

In the Philippines, businessmen often contribute significant amounts to

support many different political campaigns, with the hope of gaining

political favour in business no matter who wins the election.  Ethnic Chinese

businesspeople, denied the family links to power enjoyed by the

Spanish-descended aristocracy, are some of the biggest campaign contributors.

Connections are undoubtedly an important factor behind Tan’s success. 

Tan’s close friend Joseph Estrada rose to become president.  But Tan breaks

the mold: he eschews contributing to a bunch of candidates and instead is a

one-horse man. First, it was Marcos; then it was Estrada.  Now Tan

is calling some of the big plays for the government as he tries to keep his

airline, Philippine Airlines, afloat.

Tan is also beginning to shed his cloak of secrecy in other ways. For years, he

has held most of his companies privately. Now he is mulling whether to list his

two biggest moneymakers -- Fortune Tobacco and Asian Breweries -- on the

stock market.

Source:

Asiaweek Power50 1996

The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, Tuesday, 9/7/99

http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=SB936650829236033374.djm

Compiled by Willie Hsu