Story of Success of John Gokongwei

15 year old John became a market vendor selling peanuts. He was able to buy a bicycle that let him sell
goods in nearby towns. Hard work was his key for success. John with his brother Henry boarded wooden canoes
to sell various goods to other islands like Leyte and Bohol, and then the Lucena in Luzon. However, trading
goods did not come easy.

The end of the war and the subsequent rebuilding provided Gokongwei and his once-rich relatives with
opportunities. He travels to United States to buy materials then sell them at a high profit in Manila and the
Visayas. The American-Asia Trading happened through him and his sibling.

John manufactures simple raw materials like cornstarch that is necessary to make a beer, noodles, and
paper. One of Gokongwei's biggest clients was San Miguel Corporation, one of the oldest and largest companies
in the Philippines.

In 1954, he founded Universal Corn Products, but eventually realized he should produce finished goods.
Over 3 decades, Universal Robina Corporation was built by John and his siblings.

URC (Universal Robina Corporation) would become the flagship company of Gokongwei’s group.
Some of the most popular snacks today are made by the company, such as Chippy, Chiz Curls, Magic Flakes,
and Taquitos. Its total assets amount in the year of 2019 was P151.9 billion.

Gokongwei's empire is now managed by JG Summit Holdings, where URC is the largest subsidiary. JG
Summit also has important minority roles in PLDT, the biggest telecommunications player, and Manila Electric
Company, the largest electricity distributor in the Philippines. Overseas, it holds positions in Global Business
Power and property developer United Industrial.

John Gokongwei Jr. died in November 2019 at the age of 93. He was the third-richest person in the
Philippines with a net worth of almost P296 billion. John had assigned his son, Lance, the task of managing JG
Summit and other subsidiaries. At the same time, Robina Gokongwei Pe, heads Robinsons Retail Holdings, a
firm engaged in the merchandise trading industry.

He is remembered by his loved ones and people close to him as a humble man who always left a trail of
peanut shells which is his favorite snack that helped him create a massive empire.

"Success is not necessarily about connections, or cutting corners, or chamba - the three Cs of bad
business. Call it trite, but believe me: success can be achieved through hard work, frugality, integrity,
respinsiveness to change, and most of all, boldness to dream."
– John Gokongwei