EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY

Henry Sy was born in Xiamen, in China in October 1924.

Henry Sy was not born with the silver spoon in mouth. Since a
toddler, he had aimed to become the best businessman, so
went to try his luck in other countries. At the age of 12, he went
to Philippines to change the miserable life of his father in a
foreign country.

He was always committed with his goal to get succeed. He did

everything that helps him to alleviate life and work hard till
night. The Overseas Chinese have had one of the most effective
economic cultures in the world. Those in the Philippines are not

COMPANY PROFILE

• He was the founder of the SM Group and is currently

• Chairman Emeritus of SMIC, SM Development Corporation (SMDC), Highlands Prime, Inc. (HPI) and
BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO) and Honorary Chairman of China Banking Corporation.

NOT EVERYTHING I DO IS PURELY
FOR MONEY. OF COURSE, AS A
BUSINESSMAN AND AS HEAD OF
PUBLICLY LISTED COMPANIES, WE
HAVE TO EARN, BUT AT THIS POINT
IN MY LIFE, THERE ARE OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS MORE
IMPORTANT BESIDES JUST MONEY
-Henry Sy
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED:
much different. In the very recent past, they have
changed the profile of the corporate scene. While
they make up one percent of the population,
they account for 35% of 66% of national sales,
with the foreign-owned oil companies accounting
for the remaining 34%.
Henry Sy, Sr. is one Overseas Chinese Filipino
who has elicited special interest among the
public, being one of the most renowned by name
and economically powerful, and identified as one
of the wealthiest, yet hardly known by it. He is reputed to be
deliberately low-key and elusive to media and the public.

Businessmen, management professionals, especially finance

Problems occur during the
construction of the first mall:
In 1972, he opened department store
after two months of Martial laws. At
the start, the business worked slow
but get succeed with time. He
continued to open more exceeding
departmental stores in such a way
that one time came, he had no space
in exciting shopping centers. He
thought about long-term goals.
Asian crisis:
During 1997, when the Asian crisis
came, the team of Henry Sy.
continued to plan an expansion of
mall that includes the “Mall of Asia”
which was envisioned the biggest and
most renowned mall in the region of
Asia. But planning stopped because
Henry recognized the Tsunami-like
effects in Asia. They went on
progressively and open other malls.
experts, marketing specialists, and operations people have
marveled at the growth of his enterprises.
Earlier business:
Henry Sy. would buy goods from “Divisoria Flea
market”. He carries all goods on his back and then sells them
in a small store of her father called (sari-sari). When both
going to close the store, they would sleep in a small space to
makes their way of living much better.
He decided to make some extra income, so he had no time to
play with friends. World war-2 came and the store of his
father eventually burned and robbed. He did lots of selling and
buying many odds things during war and helped his family to
survive. After the war, he ventured into purchasing American
Shoes that were imported by the Enterprising Gis.
Evolution of SM Mall:
He enrolled himself to a school. He gets graduation degree in
commerce from “Far Eastern University”. He sold overrun and
rejected shoes. He wants to change his life. He never gives up
and always try hard to achieve the best success. After failures
in business, he stood back-up and attain a goal.
In 1958, he established a shoe store in Quiapo, Manila. The name of the store was “Shoe Mart”. For the
time, he was purchasing many shoes, leather goods, and accessories. He hopes to change the way of
shoe manufacturer strategy.

ACHIEVEMENTS: He senses lots of opportunities that enable him to

• With all his achievements, Mr.Sy
collected different awards. The
detail of these awards is given
below:
• Management Man of the Year in
1999 by Makati Business Club
• Honorary Doctorate in Business
Management in January 1999 by “
Da La Salle University”
• 40-Riches Filipinos for the year
2008–2012
• Forbes Magazine Heros of
Philanthropy
• 1st Chinese-Flipone receipt of the
“PRA President Awards” in 2005
• SM Investment; Greater
Achievement of Henry Sy:
• SM Megamall is the world second
largest shopping mall in the
Philippines and the 9th largest mall
in the world. Sy’s family-owned SM
investment is the holding venture
for SM Retail and is the largest
chain of departmental stores of
supermarkets.
• Based on the 2018 Forbes World’s
Billionaires, the estimated net
worth of Sy is $20 billion. It is three
times larger than the upcoming
fortune of the richest Tycoon.
• In 2017, Sy stepped down as the
chairman of SM investment Co. He
gets the honorary title of
“Chairman Emeritus” as the
recognition for the founder of SM
group.
He was committed to achieving a valuable goal for an organization. He not only convinces himself but
also his team members to follow his enthusiasm.
open Shoe Mart “SM” which the world first air-
conditioned shoe store. The store merchandise
shoes in a classy and inviting format. With the best
success story of the store, he decided to open more
stores. But his dream not came true because he was
unable to get more suppliers. Most manufacturers
refuse to listen to him at that time. He did not
cooperate with the volume that he needed. Because
of these reasons, he shifted gradually toward
apparel and other merchandise with the help of her
mother.
Learning from others:
Henry Sy Learn lots of innovative things from his
suppliers, employees, and customers. With intensive
on-site job research, he got enough confidence to
expand his business to the department store chain.
In life many needs are grow-out and to fulfills these
needs, you should become determined. With strong
determination, you can easily take some extra
challenges and can easily be done things differently
to get better success.
In 1970, the store became the full-line department
stores that change the name from “Shoemart” to
SM with the pioneering store at the Makati City. He
invested in the properties for malls that were
patterned after the suburban shopping centers.
With lots of criticism and armed with the optimism
and sheer determination, he opened supermarket,
departmental store, and tenants.
At the time, when the problems occur during the
first mall, the “Shoemart Makati” was faced with
severe strikes. At that time, he was so disappointed,
but his employees and customer encourage him to
proceed. At this difficult time, he never discourages
and boosts his confidence to continue his business.

Later on, the Henry Sy. focus to expand their business. The building was constructed slowly at the start.
During construction of the new building, delays in constructions because of cement shortage and coups
of 1989.

Expansion of business into different markets:

The business grew in numbers instead of the size and serving various more modest markets. The
business also expands from departmental stores to hardware stores, supermarkets, appliance
superstore, and others.

As we mentioned above that Henry Sy. was one of the greatest bankers so he also looked into the
banking business. He established the “Banco de Oro” bank that was a medium-sized bank. The members
of the business were considered conservative in the lending process. The business strengthened and
reorganize while developing the best growth strategies that started working in 2000.

Encouragement:
 He was encouraged by the “Consolidation program of Central bank of the Philippines”. Due to this
encouragement, he motivates to make the Philippines banks competitive relative to its area.

LEADERSHIP STYLE:
HENRY SY HAS MAINTAINED TRADITIONAL CONFUCIAN VALUES OF HARD WORK, FRUGALITY,
DISCIPLINE, LOVE OF STUDY, SELF-SACRIFICE FOR THE FAMILY WELFARE, AND HARMONIOUS SOCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS. HE HAS SAID: “THE SM BUSINESS MODEL IS ANCHORED ON HARD WORK, FOCUS,
DETERMINATION, AND THE ABILITY TO TAKE RISKS AND MAKE BOLD CALLS.