Ian Vincent C.

Atay April 8, 2019

GE 2 (Engineering Management)

Success secrets of John Gokongwei Jr.

- Wilson Lee Flores () - August 6, 2006 - 12:00am

Genius is seldom recognized for what it is: a great capacity for hard work.– Henry Ford

Rags-to-riches billionaire John Gokongwei Jr. celebrates his 80th birthday on August 11
with a special dinner for relatives and close friends. He is unlike others who dream of retirement
at age 50, 60 or 70. I almost fell off my chair when he asked me to a recent dinner at his home:
"Do you think I could still work up to age 90?" I felt like a lazy bum beside this hardworking
business genius, whose passion is creating new businesses and non-stop learning. I am fortunate
to have known him since 1987, when I was still a student, and I have always admired him for
being a positive role model for the youth, as a rugged and honorable entrepreneur, and as a good
family man.
This September 4 to 6, Gokongwei will be the only Filipino speaker at the prestigious 6th
Annual Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore where every attendee has to pay US$5,000
just to listen. Other VIP speakers include Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Forbes CEO and editor Steve Forbes; DaimlerChrysler boss Rüdiger
Grube; Royal Philips Electronics CEO Gerard Kleisterlee; DHL Express CEO John Mullen;
Dole food giant CEO David Murdock; Hopewell Group CEO Gordon Wu; Lenovo CEO William
Amelio; and Hang Lung Properties CEO Ronnie Chan.
Unknown to most people, August is not only Gokongwei’s birthday, but also the
anniversary of his having quit smoking. He recalled to me: "I stopped smoking on August 21,
1983, the day Senator Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. I didn’t smoke that whole day because of
the shock. I was in my house in Makati and I saw the TV news. Before, I used to smoke six
cigars and one pack of cigarettes a day. The next day I told my wife I didn’t smoke the previous
day; then it occurred to me that I could quit. But the bad thing about not smoking is I have since
gained 30 pounds!"
 How did Gokongwei overcome cruel odds to attain success both in business and in his
family life? Here are some of what I believe are his success secrets:

Legacy of entrepreneurship
Perhaps it is the genes and/or inspiration from his great-great-grandfather Pedro Gotiaoco
(Chinese name "Go Bun Tiao"), who was a penniless and illiterate immigrant peddler from
Khitang Village of Jinjiang county (now city), Fujian province, south China. In 2000, ex-Bangko
Sentral Gov. Gabriel Singson and I accompanied Gokongwei to visit Khitang Village. The
immigrant Gotiaoco arrived in Cebu as a teenager and worked hard to build up Gotiaoco
Hermanos (Chinese name "Hiap Tin") in 28 years. Up to this day, Gotiaoco’s original brown jar,
which he used to carry on his back as an oil trader, is still a prized possession in their Makati
home. Though the Go fortune didn’t last beyond three generations and the fatherless Gokongwei
had to build his own business from scratch, the memory of Gotiaoco’s amazing success saga
surely reminded Gokongwei that, in life, nothing is impossible to those who dare dream and to
those who are willing to pay the price to achieve those dreams.

Studying non-stop
Gokongwei is a voracious reader of books on history and biographies of great people. He
loves math and was a top student at San Carlos University. Despite having dropped out of school
due to poverty and the Japanese invasion, from 1971 to 1972 he studied to obtain his MBA at De
La Salle University where his professors included Prime Minister Cesar Virata, Senator Vicente
Paterno and Trade Undersecretary Tordesillas. He also studied 13 weeks at Harvard Business
School. Gokongwei believes in non-stop studying.

Trading prowess
Ever since he was a young merchant on a bicycle or onboard batelboats, Gokongwei has
excelled as a consummate trader through the decades.
Risk-taking spirit
He welcomes entrepreneurial risks and minimizes the dangers by often taking calculated
risks.

Taking on the Big Boys

Gokongwei has been challenging San Miguel in foods, Nestlé in coffee, Philippine
Airlines, SM in malls, Smart and Globe (with his innovative Sun Cellular free texts/calls
lowering telecom prices for us consumers). Known for its bold low-fare strategy, Cebu Pacific
Air is flying direct to Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing starting October, and will add more
international routes to further lower travel costs for us consumers.

Confucian values of hard work, filial piety, discipline, perseverance, simple lifestyle, and
delayed personal gratification
He values the importance of khiu khiam or being frugal and humble. His great-
grandfather, the tycoon Gotiaoco, used to pick up and eat rice if it spilled on the floor, but
Gokongwei said he doesn’t do that out of phay se, or embarrassment.

Traveling
Starting in his 20s, he has traveled yearly to learn about other peoples and cultures, go to
museums, and observe consumer trends and new business opportunities. He hopes to someday
visit China’s Tibet province, South Africa, Israel (not now due to the war) and Dubai.

Chinese culture
Gokongwei believes that we members of the ethnic Chinese minority should preserve our
cultural heritage. In fact, he and his wife recently gave me the July 3, 2006 issue
of Time magazine where an article said that of 263 graduates of Britain’s elite Eton school last
year, 110 are now studying Chinese language in universities. They suggested I write a column
urging Philippine society to join the global trend of studying Chinese in universities.
Wife
Gokongwei once said that the No. 1 greatest happiness of his life was having married a
good wife in Elizabeth Limsico Yu, who has provided him with support, family stability and
helped him raise good children. She shares his love for reading and also used to handle his retail
business.

Family
Support from family members like his siblings and now his kids as well as nephews and
nieces has also been key. When he was a boy trader riding a bicycle, his late mother in the first
two years of his business career had to pawn her jewelry to borrow money.

Deal-making
He is talented in deal-making, saying he "negotiates from a position of strength."

Timing
Gokongwei almost has a sixth sense about anticipating and quickly adapting to changes,
and seeing future trends.

Avoiding politics
In our society where a lot of people are not ashamed about boasting of their
"connections" to earn money, Gokongwei’s preference not to rely on politics to grow business is
quite unique among big business groups. When asked why, he replied that political leaders will
not stay in power forever, anyway.

Globalization
Going beyond the Philippines, Gokongwei has built a multinational conglomerate with
diversified investments in ASEAN and China.
Vision
He has long-term vision, publicly listing his firms, planning his succession by giving way
to younger brother James Go and son Lance Gokongwei, and creating a foundation to control his
assets and for philanthropy.

Wilson Lee Flores: Short Biography of Analyst, Teacher, Writer, Entrepreneur

Wilson Lee Flores is a writer, economics/politics/geopolitics analyst, college teacher,

historian, poet, real estate entrepreneur, bakery cafe owner, art collector, moneylender and
foodie. He is often invited as guest speaker by organizations, universities, schools, TV or radio
shows. He has been interviewed by diverse local and international media on economics, politics,
geopolitics, business and other issues.

Wilson Lee Flores has won three Palanca literary awards. He has won a record
13 Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) from “Best Business Column” to “Best Opinion
Column”, including two CMMA Hall of Fame Awards.

He has been elected past director of Unyon Ng Mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) or
the Philippine Writers Union.

He has authored five books on business published by the De La Salle University Press.

Although his paternal forebears were 19th century to early 20th century philanthropists
and pioneer lumber entrepreneurs, his side of the family didn’t inherit wealth. Wilson Lee Flores
is a real estate investor and entrepreneur who started out without capital first as assistant
purchasing manager of a realty firm and in 1995 becoming a real estate broker who achieved
record sales. He has since donated public schools to poor rural areas of the Philippines as well as
to other socio-civic and cultural causes.

Due mainly to his passion for history and love of good foods, Wilson Lee Flores bought
the historic, artisanal, wood-fired brick oven style Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City in
December 2013 as a real estate investment. He observed operations for one month and then took
over management to revive it starting January 2014, turning around its business to profitability
and growth. He restored and re-opened its old cafe on March 20, 2015.

He is also honorary chairman of the Anvil Business Club, after having been elected a
record three times as president and two times as chairman, then he declined re-election because
he believes an organization can only grow more dynamic if officers give way to new set of
younger leaders.

Anvil Business Club is an organization of young ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs with goals
of promoting civic consciousness, traditional Confucian moral values, entrepreneurial courage
and professional excellence.

While chairman of Anvil Business Club, he proposed the donation of a life-sized granite
Confucius monument to the Chinese Garden of the Rizal Park in Manila as tribute to teachers of
the world and to honor the moral values of the teacher and philosopher Confucius, he sought the
assistance of then Tourism Secretary Ace Durano to arrange the finalization of this donation.

He is also one of Anvil’s representatives to the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers

of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (FFCCII).

In 2016, he was elected director of the Quezon City Tourism Council, director of the
Quezon City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, director of the 50-year-old Filipino Chinese
Bakery Association, Inc. (FCBAI).

He studied prep one and two at Manila’s Chiang Kai Shek College, where he won in the
watercolor painting competition with his tiger work.

He studied grade school and high school at Grace Christian High School (now Grace
Christian College) where he was features editor of the school newspaper the “Grace Journal”,
where he was also grand prize winner at both the General Information competition and the Bible
competition, where he was also playwright and director of the senior high school theater project.
 He studied Management Economics then after over 20 units of economics, he shifted to
Legal Management at the Ateneo de Manila University where he was managing editor and
columnist of the college newspaper “The Guidon”, founding president of the multi-awarded
Celadon organization, writer of poems for the Ateneo’s “Heights” literary journal, writer of
Tagalog poems and feature articles for the Filipino-language college newspaper “Matanglawin”
and writer for the “Icarus” journal of the Political Society of the Ateneo, editor of the Spanish
class journal “La Herencia”. He also took two elective classes of painting at the Ateneo.

While a college student at the Ateneo, his poems in English, Filipino and some Spanish
were published in the university’s “Heights”, “Matanglawin”, “La Herencia”, also in non-
campus national publications such as the “Caracoa” poetry journal and “Midweek” magazine
edited by top poet Jose “Pete” F. Lacaba. As a freshman college student, he was also a top
finalist in the “Asiaweek” short story writing competition.

He took special classes in economics at Beijing University (also known as Peking

University), where he was elected president of their foreign students’ association and received
his short course diploma at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse.

As a symbol of the ancient bond of friendship and historic ties between the Philippines
and China, Wilson Lee Flores also proposed the construction of a Dr. Jose Rizal monument in
his ancestral village of Siongque (spelled as “Zgang-guo” based on the Mandarin pronunciation
of the village name) in Jinjiang City, Fujian province, south China. He and his late uncle Tulay
Foundation, Inc. Chairman Manuel O. Chua had earlier researched and verified the ancestral
village of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.

He is fluent in English, Filipino, Hokkien (Min-nan), Mandarin; he also studied the

Spanish language in high school, college and at the Instituto Cervantes.
URL:

https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/sunday-life/2006/08/06/351319/success-secrets-john-
gokongwei-jr

https://wilsonleeflores.com/about/

Learning Insight:

“Entrepreneurship is not for the weak of heart. There is no easy path to success. You will
need to work harder than your employees, to keep your mind sharp, and to face your inner fears.
In the end, entrepreneurship is not only finding opportunities to create value in the business
sense, but also finding the opportunities to be your best self” (Khanser, 2007). These words of
success and entrepreneurial wisdom come from a man of prowess; from a man of no ordinary
abilities who started off from scratch, and later become one of the nation's and the world’s
leading business leaders, industrialists and philanthropists. As what I have learned about John
Gokongwei Jr. success is that when their family is known to be one of the richest in Cebu but
unfortunately when his father died all the things he enjoyed were taken away from them. At the
age of 15 he had to work to provide for his family, he sold roasted peanuts and opened up a small
stall in the market, where he had to compete with other vendors to sell his goods. He sold soap,
candles, and threads to earn money. Determined as he was, Gokongwei Jr. knew he had an
advantage as he was younger, therefore he used this as a strength in his job. And because of his
decision in 1943 when he began trading goods from Cebu to Manila when the World War II has
ended, he saw this as an opportunity to trade goods in the Philippines. He put up Amasia Trading
with his brother which helped bring back his siblings home to help out with the business. He then
went on to pursue other business ventures: from cornstarch manufacturing, to food production, to
purchasing shares in San Miguel Corporation, then leading business in the 70s. He had a vision
to make every Filipino fly thus the creation of the low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific, in 2003 he
established a mobile company, in 2004 he introduced C2 beverage, and all that comprise
Gokongwei Jr.’s empire, the JG Summit holdings. It didn’t always go smoothly—in between
these success come failure. He had a hard time to get a loan, but fortunately one bank trusted
him. He started getting recognized at the business scene but before that he had to fight for a
position. His loss and failures were broadcasted. But still he succeeded—and is now considered
as a key player when it comes to the powerful business sector. He also gave advice to young
entrepreneurs who also want to make it big someday. “They have to love their work. Instead of
spending, they have to save money. It is also essential to look for places where there is a
competition. Work hard and the most important ingredient for success is to love work”. The
Gokongweis dress simply and remain humble. They don't spend on designer brands or flashy
cars. They spend on travel and books, their means to expand the mind. This is how they
constantly come up with new ideas. Because of the good management of Gokongwei, Jr. he is
the founder of JG Summit, a conglomerate that has stakes in various industries, including Cebu
Pacific, Robinsons Land, Universal Robina, Robinsons Bank, PLDT, Meralco and one of the
successful entrepreneur in the country.