ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Submitted by:

Labarro, Frances Nicole A.

Abanes, Guian Archie B.

Delos Santos, Alfred E.

Dimalna, Jalane H.

Mesa, John Kristofer C.

Submitted to:

Mrs. Gail D. Abasolo

Subject Teacher

PHILIPPINE ENTREPRENEUR

Henry Sy

- His story of success is known as “Rags to Riches”

- He turned their shoe business into SM Investments, one of Philippines' largest conglomerates.

- He started out by learning the ropes of the retail beside his father in the family's
convenience store.

- After saving enough money, he went out on his own and started his first
business with a footwear shop.

- Sy topped the Forbes Philippines Rich List for eleven years in a row, through
2018, and was worth an estimated $19 billion when he died.

- Henry Sy, Sr. was the Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of SMIC.  He was the
founder of the SM Group and was Chairman Emeritus of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., SM
 Development Corporation, and Highlands Prime, Inc., BDO Unibank, Inc., and Honorary
Chairman of China Banking Corporation until his passing.

- Mr. Sy opened the first ShoeMart store in 1958 and has since evolved into a dynamic group
of companies with three lines of businesses – retail, banking, and property.
- Mr. Sy was born in Xiamen, China in October 15, 1924, where he would stay and attend
school until he was 12 years old. In 1936, he followed his father to the Philippines, where he
operated a sari sari store that sold rice, sardines, and soap. It was located on Echague St.,
which is now Carlos Palanca Sr. St. in Quiapo, Manila. There, he devised ways to increase
his income by developing small portions of products – much like the sachets we see today in
the supermarkets.
- Misfortune however struck when their store burned down during World War II. His father
was then forced to return to China, but Mr. Sy decided to stay in the Philippines determined
to become successful—even with only 10 centavos to his name.
- Mr. Sy started selling surplus G.I. boots of US soldiers after the war. Having saved up
enough money from this venture, he opened a shoe store named ShoeMart in Marikina in
1958. He started with six shoe stores, then diversified into clothing and soft goods.
- He then went into real estate development through Multi-Realty Development Corp. in 1974,
diversifying his interests into high-rise developments initially in prime lots in Makati City.
- In 1976, Mr. Sy acquired Acme Savings Bank, which would be renamed as Banco de Oro and
is now currently known as BDO Unibank, Inc.
- Mr. Sy opened his first supermall called SM North EDSA in Quezon City in 1985. More
malls would follow in the 1990s, namely SM City Sta. Mesa, SM Megamall, and SM City
Cebu. SM Prime went public in 1994 and raised around P6 billion, paving the way for the
company’s rapid expansion. It currently has 72 malls in the country, plus seven in China.
- From these humble beginnings, the Sy family has grown SM Prime and SMIC to be the only
two companies in the country to have reached the trillion-peso mark in terms of market
capitalization.
- BDO is also the largest bank in the country in asset terms at P2.79 trillion.
- Aside from property, banking, and retail, the Sy group also has interests in leisure through
Belle Corp., logistics through 2GO Group, Inc., and mining through Atlas Consolidated
Mining & Development Corp.
- The SM Group of Companies is now being run by his children, namely Teresita, Elizabeth,
Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert, and Harley.
- The SM founder persevered and continued to work hard. Sy worked hard all night and day to
survive, this while learning English and Tagalog, attending school, and hurdling other
obstacles. After earning a degree in commercial studies from Far Eastern University, the
young entrepreneur entered the shoe business and sold surplus G.I. boots. which led to him
opening his first Shoemart.
- After some time, Sy found that shoes were hard to come by locally. He then looked to other
countries for broken sizes—a move that would cement Shoemart’s status as an efficient shoe
store.
- At one time, he was hit by shrapnel while selling, and quite fortunately was brought to the
hospital by his good friend in a kariton. Without that friend, he could have bled to death. He
treasured that friendship and later expressed his gratitude after the war by making that friend
his partner in a shoe store. The partnership lasted for more than 40 years until the shoe store
had to give away to the building renovations of the lessor.
- With the pleasure of a growing family while at the same time pursuing studies at FEU in the
early 50s, he sought more ways to augment his income. He studied the market and decided to
be different. While other young men went to the US to pursue a higher education, he went on
a long business trip to the East Coast, and came home with a lot of merchandising ideas.
- When Sy married Felicidad Tan, a lace vendor, he thought of venturing into other products
such as children’s wear. Around the same time, Shoemart officially changed its name to SM
Department Store.
- “Sensing a lot of opportunities, he decided to open SHOE MART – “SM” – the first air-
condition ed shoe store that merchandised shoes in a very inviting and classy format. With
the success of that store, he went on to open more shoe stores, but he could not get enough
suppliers. Numerous shoe manufacturers at that time could not understand why they had to
listen to this shoe retailer who had very definite ideas on what he wanted to sell. They did not
cooperate by providing him with the volume he needed, and because of that limitation, he
gradually shifted to apparel – and thereafter other merchandise – with the help of my mother.
He was continuously learning from his customers, suppliers, and employees. This on-the-job
research gave him enough confidence to expand to a department store chain. Many things in
life grow out of needs, and to meet the needs, you become determined. With determination
you will take extra challenges and do things differently – which will most likely bring
success. We opened our first department store in 1972, two months after Martial Law was
declared. The business had a slow start, but progressed steadily. During the Martial Law
years, he continued to open more department stores, reaching a point wherein he could not
get space he needed in the existing shopping centers during that time. He then decided think
long term, and invest in properties for malls, which were patterned after suburban shopping
centers, which he had been studying for some time. When we started the construction of our
first mall in 1983, the Philippines was in the midst of a debt moratorium and experienced
hyper inflation. The economy decline was further aggravated by the assassination of Ninoy
Aquino. Many bankers predicted our demise because my dad came from nowhere – he may
had a few department stores and shoe stores at that time, but he was not one of the financial
heavy-weights at that time. Unaffected by criticism, and armed with sheer determination and
optimism, he persisted and opened in 1985 with our department store and supermarket and a
few tenants. Many potential lessees were saying no to lease offers. At about the same time,
given the social unrest of the times, our own Shoemart Makati was faced with ugly strikes.
He almost gave up, but through the encouragement of his employees and customers, he
continued. At that time, he decided emotionally draining disturbances should not overpower
him or detract him from his goals. Since that time, he has not faltered in his confidence, and
became even more determined to continue the business. He also convinced every one of us in
the organization to follow his optimism. Later, we expanded, slowly building malls at that
time to get our formula right. The expansion was not without difficulties. When constructing
Sta. Mesa and Megamall, we were faced with delays in construction due to cement shortages
and the 1989 coups. When the 1997 Asian crisis came, we were planning our mall expansion,
including the Mall of Asia, which was then envisioned to be the biggest mall in the region.
Because my dad felt the tsunami-like effects of the region wide crisis, which was unlike any
other he had experienced, we had to change plans. We deferred opening the Mall of Asia, and
went on with the opening of other malls. We grew in numbers instead of size, serving
different smaller markets. We have also expanded our retail business beyond department
stores to include supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance superstores, and other retail
formats. At about the same time, we looked into the banking business – both at our bank and
at the industry. At the time, our main bank, Banco de Oro was a medium sized bank. Because
we were quite conservative in lending, the deluge of bad loans that characterized the times
did not affect us. Given that, we thought it was an opportune time to grow amidst some
instabilities. We reorganized and strengthened our organizations for about three years and
developed growth strategies that started in the year 2000. Encouraged by the consolidation
program of Central Bank of the Philippines (BSP) in making Philippine banks more
competitive relative to the region, Banco De Oro made few acquisitions because of the
moratorium on banking. It acquired the Dao Heng Philippines branch, the First eBank, the
 Banco Santander Philippines branch, the United Overseas Bank branches, and most recently
– Equitable PCI Bank. Opportunity is where you find it, not where it finds you. Crisis and
weakness indicate one can look for opportunities. Transforming problems into opportunities
can bring good returns. Prosperity and growth come only to a business that systematically
exploits its potentials and systematically optimizes its performances. Our business –
especially that of shopping centers is a long term business. It takes at least eight years to pay
back. We feel that the country will always be around, and with Filipinos’ love for shopping,
there will always be customers we can sell to. We also have to continuously innovate. Our
other retail formats like supermarkets, hardware stores, appliance stores, home stores, toy
superstores, baby stores, and Watsons are continuously evolving with the shopping habits of
our customers. Because they frequently visit the store, we make sure we have new products
all the time so that their shopping experience will not be boring. Our group’s policy is to look
for opportunities at all times, and to be ready to act when it comes. While crises may have
brought opportunities, we continue our plans in good or bad times with some changes to suit
our demands of the time.” – Interview with Teresita Sy, daughter of the late Henry Sy
- Never one to settle, Sy bought Acme Savings Bank (Banco de Oro) in 1967. This would
separate him from his competitors—Isetann, Rempson, C.O.D.—allowing him to build a
portfolio of companies. In 2006, SM acquired and merged Equitable PCI Bank with BDO.
- The 1990s were a golden decade for SM. After opening SM North EDSA in 1985, SM almost
consecutively opened malls in the following years: SM City Sta. Mesa in 1990, SM
Megamall in 1991, and SM City Cebu in 1993. In 1994, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. was
incorporated and became public. This increased SM Prime’s funding capabilities and in turn,
fueled further development of SM malls and shopping centers.
- The first SM mall in China was opened in 2001. Only a decade after SM began its expansion
in the Philippines, it entered the Chinese industry through shopping malls. Today, SM Prime
has six malls in Xiamen, Jinjiang, Chengdu, Suzhou, Chongqing, and Zibo. According to SM
Investments, China’s SM malls continue to thrive “with high occupancy levels and forging
long-term tenant relationships with leading local and international brands.”
- SM entered the residential market through SM Development Corporation. SMDC, the
property developer of SM launched its maiden project, a condominium named Chateau
Elysee, in Paranaque in 2003. It currently has projects in numerous districts and areas
including Makati, Mandaluyong, Manila, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Taguig, and
Tagaytay, with plans to expand in key cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
-
 - “There is no such thing as overnight success or easy money. If you fail, do not be
discouraged; try again. When you do well, do not change your ways. Success is not just good
luck: it is a combination of hard work, good credit standing, opportunity, readiness and
timing. Success will not last if you do not take care of it. – HENRY SY”

NET WORTH OVER TIME

- $2.7B Billionaires March 2009

- $4.2B Billionaires March 2010
- $5.8B Billionaires March 2011
- $8B Billionaires March 2012
- $13.2B Billionaires March 2013
- $11.4B Billionaires March 2014
- $14.2B Billionaires March 2015
- $12.9B Billionaires March 2016
- $12.7B Billionaires March 2017
- $20B Billionaires March 2018

POSITIONS IN OTHER REPORTING COMPANIES

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. - Chairman Emeritus

BDO Unibank, Inc. - Chairman Emeritus
China Banking Corporation - Honorary Chairman

BOARD ATTENDANCE: 100%; 6 of 6 Board Meetings

DATE OF FIRST January 1960

APPOINTMENT:

NO. OF YEARS ON THE 56 YRS.

BOARD:
WORLD ENTREPRENEUR

Bill Gates
- William Henry Gates was born on 28 October 1955, in Seattle, Washington. As the principal
founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates is one of the most influential and richest people on the
planet. Recent estimates of his wealth put it at US$84.2 billion (Jan. 2017); this is the
equivalent of the combined GDP of several African economies. In recent years he has retired
from working full time at Microsoft, and has instead concentrated on working with his
charitable foundation “The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.”
- His father William Gates Sr was a senior lawyer, and his mother, Mary, served as an
executive for a major bank. The family were wealthy but, remembering the challenges of the
Great Depression, they encouraged their children to work hard and take nothing for granted.
- Aged 13, Gates attended the private Lakeside school. It was here that Gates had his first
introduction to computers. He taught himself to programme in Basic, making a simple ‘Tic-
Tac-Toe’ game. Gates enjoyed the process of working with computers and arranged with a
company Computer Center Corporation (CCC) to spend time on their computers – learning
source code, such as Fortran, Machine Code and Lisp.
- In 1973, Gates enrolled at Harvard, where he studied mathematics and computer science.
However, Gates was more interested in pursuing his own coding, and when he saw an
opportunity to found his own company, he dropped out of Harvard without finishing his
course.
- Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1976 when he formed a contract with MITS (Micro
Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems) to develop a basic operating system for their new
microcomputers. In the early days, Bill Gates would review every line of code. He was also
involved in several aspects of Microsoft’s business such as packing and sending off orders.
- The big break for Microsoft came in 1980 when IBM approached them for a new BASIC
operating system for its new computers. In the early 1980s, IBM was by far the leading PC
manufacturer. However, increasingly, there developed many IBM PC clones; (PCs produced
by other companies compatible with IBM’s). Microsoft worked hard to sell its operating
system to these other companies. Thus Microsoft was able to gain the dominant position of
software manufacture just as the personal computer market started to boom. Since its early
dominance, other companies have struggled to displace Microsoft as the dominant provider
of computer operating software. Programs like Microsoft Word and Excel have become the
industry standard.
- In 1990 Microsoft released its first version of Windows. This was a breakthrough in
operating software as it replaced text interfaces with graphical interfaces. It soon became a
best seller and was able to capture the majority of the operating system market share. In 1995
Windows 95 was released, setting new standards and features for operating systems. This
version of Windows has been the backbone of all future releases from Windows 2000 to the
latest XP and Vista.
- Throughout his time in office, Bill Gates has been keen to diversify the business of
Microsoft. For example, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer became the dominant web browser,
although this was primarily because it came pre-installed on most new computers. In recent
years, Internet Explorer has seen its market share slip.
- One area where Microsoft has never been successful is in the area of search engines. MSN
live search has struggled to gain more than 5% of market share. In this respect, Microsoft has
 been dwarfed by Google. Nevertheless, the success of Microsoft in cornering various aspects
of the software market has led to several anti-trust cases. In 1998 US v Microsoft, Microsoft
came close to being broken up into three smaller firms. However, on appeal, Microsoft was
able to survive as a single firm. Although Microsoft was the dominant computer firm of the
1980s, and 1990s, they are now seen as an ageing and declining company – compared to the
more dynamic Google and Apple.
- Bill Gates is married to Melinda French (married in 1992). They have three children Jennifer
(1996), Rory (1999) and Phoebe (2002). With his wife, Bill Gates formed the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. Bill Gates says much of the inspiration came from the example of David
Rockefeller. Like Rockefeller, Gates has sought to focus on global issues ignored by the
government; he also expressed an interest in improving the standards of public school
education in the US. He has appeared with Oprah Winfrey to promote this objective. In
respect to charitable, philanthropic activities Gates has also received encouragement from
investor Warren Buffet, who has given away $17 billion, through the Gates Foundation.
- From 2008 Gates has worked full time on his philanthropic interests. It is estimated Gates and
his wife Melinda have given away $28 billion via their charitable foundation – including $8
billion to improve global health.
- Gates has said that he has no use for money, and will only leave a small percentage of his
wealth to his children. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Gates states: “I’m certainly
well taken care of in terms of food and clothes,” he says, redundantly. “Money has no utility
to me beyond a certain point. Its utility is entirely in building an organization and getting the
resources out to the poorest in the world.”
- His main areas of interest in philanthropy have been improving health, and in particular
helping to reduce diseases, such as polio which affect young children. He has also given more
focus to environmental issues. In 2015, he gave $1 billion to a clean energy project, as he
sees supporting new ‘greener’ technologies as a way to help deal with global warming. Asked
about the motivation of his giving, Gates replies: “It doesn’t relate to any particular religion;
it’s about human dignity and equality,” he says. “The golden rule that all lives have equal
value and we should treat people as we would like to be treated.”
- He was born on October 28, 1955
- He is a Scorpio
- 5'10" (178 cm), 5'10" Males
- His family:

Spouse/Ex-: Melinda Gates

 Father: William H. Gates Sr.

Mother: Mary Maxwell Gates

Siblings: Kristi Gates, Libby Gates

Children: Jennifer Katharine Gates, Phoebe Adele Gates, Rory John Gates

- He is the founder/ co-founder of Founder/Co-Founder: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,

Microsoft Corporation, Corbis, BgC3, Cascade Investment, Microsoft Research, The Global
Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis And Malaria
- Bill Gates is an American business magnate and computer programmer who is the co-founder
of Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company. Since the company’s formation in
1975, Gates has held several positions including those of the chairman, CEO and chief
software architect. One of the most famous entrepreneurs of the personal computer
revolution, he has been consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people starting
from 1987. Born as the son of a successful lawyer, Bill Gates was encouraged from a young
age to be competitive. Bright and curious, he developed an interest in computers while in
school and wrote his first computer program as a young teenager. After completing his
schooling, he enrolled at the prestigious Harvard College though he did not stay there long
enough to complete his studies. He dropped out to pursue his passion in computers and
teamed up with Paul Allen, a former schoolmate, to form Microsoft. The company proved to
be highly successful and within years Gates became an internationally known entrepreneur.
Currently the wealthiest person in the world, he is a renowned philanthropist who along with
his wife has created the charity organization "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”. He has also
authored and co-authored several books.
- Born as William Henry "Bill" Gates III on October 28, 1955, he is the son of William H.
Gates, Sr. and Mary Maxwell Gates. His father was a prominent lawyer while his mother
served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. He has
two sisters.
- He studied at the Lakeside School where he developed an interest in computing. He was just
13 when he wrote his first software program on the school’s computer and by the time he was
in high school he, along with some of his friends, had computerized their school’s payroll
system.
- His future business collaborator, Paul Allen, was a senior at Lakeside. At the age of 17, Gates
teamed up with Allen to form a venture called Traf-O-Data, to make traffic counters based on
the Intel 8008 processor.
- He graduated from high school in 1973. He was a National Merit Scholar and scored 1590
out of 1600 on the SAT. He enrolled at Harvard College later the same year. As a college
student he spent a lot of time on the computers though he was not much interested in studying
other subjects. His friend Allen suggested that Bill drop out of college to start a business.

- Bill Gates and Paul Allen collaborated to found Microsoft (initially called Micro-Soft) in
1975. In the beginning they adapted BASIC, a popular programming language for use on
microcomputers. It proved to be a success and they continued to develop programming
language software for various systems.
- In 1980, the duo was approached by International Business Machine (IBM) with a proposal
that Microsoft write the BASIC interpreter for IBM’s upcoming personal computer, the IBM
PC. Microsoft created the PC DOS operating system which they delivered to IBM in
exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000.
- Soon Microsoft’s operating systems became very popular and the company introduced an
operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985, as a graphical operating
system shell for MS-DOS. Over the following years Windows came to dominate the world’s
personal computer market acquiring over 90% market share. The company saw phenomenal
financial success, and being the company’s largest individual shareholder, Bill Gates amassed
a great fortune.
- Microsoft introduced Microsoft Office in 1989. The package integrated several applications
like Microsoft Word and Excel into one system that was compatible with all Microsoft
products. The success of MS Office gave Microsoft a virtual monopoly on operating systems
for PCs.
- In the mid 1990s when the use of the internet spread throughout the globe at an alarming
speed, Gates focused Microsoft on the development of consumer and enterprise software
solutions for the Internet. Windows CE operating system platform and the Microsoft Network
were among the innovative solutions developed during this time.
- In January 2000, Gates stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft though he
retained his position as chairman. He created the new position of Chief Software Architect for
himself. Over the next few years he gradually transferred his duties to others at Microsoft and
started spending more time in philanthropic works. He stepped down as Chairman of
 Microsoft in February 2014, and currently serves as technology advisor to support CEO Satya
Nadella.
- Bill Gates is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, the multinational technology
company which is today considered one of the world's most valuable companies. It is the
world's largest software maker measured by revenues
- With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's
largest private charitable foundation.
- The foundation works to save lives and improve global health, and is working with Rotary
International to eliminate polio.
- Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft -- he owns just over 1% of
shares --and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.
- He remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen in
1975.
- In late 2016, Gates announced the launch of a $1 billion Breakthrough Energy investment
fund with about 20 other people.

- To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation
- He dropped out from Harvard University.
- When Gates was a kid, he spent so much time reading that his parents finally forbade him
from bringing books to the dinner table.
- Gates took a break from classes his senior year in high school to do programming with his
friend Paul Allen at a power plant in North Bonneville, Washington.

BILL GATES HAS SHARED EXACTLY WHAT HIS PARENTS DID TO SET HIM UP FOR
SUCCESS

1. They stressed the importance of community

The Gates family made a point of being involved in community work and
philanthropy, making sure that their kids participated too. "Mary was a firm believer in an idea
from the 'Book of Luke': 'To whom much is given, much is expected,'" Gates Sr. said in an
interview with Forbes. "From the beginning, she instilled it as an important value in our family."
It's clear that this is something their son has taken seriously in his adult life as well.
2. They gave him a significant amount of independence

The struggle between parents' authority and children's autonomy is nothing new, but the
Gates parents were more willing than most to give him a significant amount of independence.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, they enrolled Bill in a private school known to
give their students unusual amounts of freedom. It was at this school that Bill discovered
computers.
By the age of 13, Bill's parents permitted him to visit the University of Washington at
night to use their computers. They also allowed him to leave home for chunks of time, like to go
to Olympia, where he was a page at the state legislature, and Washington, D.C. to work as a
Congressional page. He also took a break from school his senior year of high school to work as a
programmer at a power plant in southern Washington. All this was before he dropped out of
Harvard University to move to New Mexico to found Microsoft.
"Mary and I were both concerned about it — I think she a bit more than I," Bill Sr. told
the Wall Street Journal. "Her expectations and mine were very ordinary expectations of people
who have kids in college — that they get a degree." But ultimately they were supportive of their
son, who eventually moved the company closer to home in Seattle.

3. They wouldn't let him give up just because he didn't excel at something

When you're raising a smart kid who's good at a lot of things, it can be easy to let them
drop out of activities where they don't excel. But that's not what the Gates parents did — they
made sure he continued to participate in swimming, soccer, football, and playing the trombone —
even if he wasn't the most gifted in those areas. Though it probably would have been easier not to
attend kids' soccer games or have someone in your house learning how to play a brass instrument,
Bill's parents understood that it was important that he learned that he didn't have to be good at
everything, and that failure is perfectly normal and acceptable.

"At the time I thought it was kind of pointless," Bill Gates said of these activities in an
interview with Fortune, "but it ended up really exposing me to leadership opportunities and
showing me that I wasn't good at a lot of things, instead of sticking to things that I was
comfortable with. It was fantastic, and now some of those activities I cherish. They had to stick to
it because I pushed back a lot, but it was fantastic advice."
NET WORTH OVER TIME

$81B Forbes 400 September 2014

$79.2B Billionaires March 2015

$76B Forbes 400 September 2015

$75B Billionaires March 2016

$81B Forbes 400 October 2016

$86B Billionaires March 2017

$89B Forbes 400 October 2017

$90B Billionaires March 2018

$97B Forbes 400 October 2018

$96.5B Billionaires March 2019

ON FORBES LISTS

#2 Billionaires 2019

#2 Forbes 400 2018

#7 Powerful People 2018

#1 Richest In Tech 2017

The Richest Person In Every State 2017 (Dropped off in 2018)

The Richest Person In America’s 50 Largest Cities 2016

Awards & Achievements

 In 2002, Bill and Melinda Gates received the Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service
Benefiting the Disadvantaged.
 Gates received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from The Franklin Institute in 2010 in
recognition of his achievements at Microsoft and his philanthropic work.
 Bill and Melinda Gates jointly received India's third highest civilian honor Padma Bhushan
in 2015 for their foundation's philanthropic activities in India.
Personal Life & Legacy

 Bill Gates met Melinda French, a young woman working at Microsoft, in 1989. The couple grew
close over a period of time and got married in 1994. They have three children.

Philanthropic Works

 In 1999, he donated US$20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the
construction of a computer laboratory which was named the "William H. Gates Building" in his
honor.
 Along with his wife, Melinda, Bill Gates formed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF or
the Gates Foundation) in 2000. It is the largest private foundation in the world and aims to
enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty worldwide.
 In 2010, Gates along with fellow billionaire investors Warren Buffett, and Facebook founder and
CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed the "Gates-Buffet Giving Pledge", committing to donate at least
half of their wealth over the course of time to charity.

Net Worth

 As of 2015, Bill Gates has a net worth of US $79.3 billion

Top 10 Facts You Did Not Know About Bill Gates

 His childhood nickname was “Trey”.

 The first computer program that Bill Gates wrote was a tic-tac-toe game.
 As a school student he used to brag that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 30—he
actually became one by the time he was 31!
 Gates was once arrested in New Mexico in 1977 for driving without a license.
 He acquired the Codex Leicester—a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci—at an auction
for $30.8 million, in 1994.
 Bill Gates’ biggest regret is that he doesn't know any foreign languages.
 He is not active on Facebook despite being friends with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
 Had Microsoft failed to work out, he would have been a researcher for artificial intelligence.
 Gates says his kids will only inherit $10 million each despite his immense wealth.
 His all-time favorite business book is ‘Business Adventures’ by John Brooks, published in 1969.
10 SECRETS OF HENRY SY’S SUCCESS

1. Humility. 
Henry Sy has always been a man of few words and disarming humility. I remember when his
Podium mall was newly opened near SM Megamall, he invited me to have merienda and then dinner in
two restaurants. I was with him for five hours, but he spoke very little; I had to coax him to tell me his
fascinating stories. He reminds me of an East Asian ancient philosopher who spoke little but had great
gems of wisdom. He has reportedly never been seen expressing anger in public.
2. Ability to find and use good talent. 
I have never done business with Henry Sy, or ever asked a favor of any kind. But once, when I
was starting in the business of building and selling middle-class houses in Quezon City after college, I
sold him a small number of China Bank stocks which my late grandfather had bought in 1920, passed on
to my late dad. Sy bought those shares at the market price quoted in the stock market, and even asked me
for a discount!
Amazingly, even if Sy has since gained control of China Bank by patiently buying stocks through the
years, he has chosen to maintain the separate corporate identity of this respected institution and even
allowed the original founding family to continue managing it professionally and so profitably. Even in his
other companies, he knows how to utilize the best professional talent to help his entrepreneurial family
run diverse businesses.
3. Traditional Confucian values. 
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. We are guided by this set of principles and core values.”
It was only a few years ago that he finally agreed to move to a new but simple bungalow in North
Forbes, Makati. He told me it was his eldest daughter Tessie who received his check to purchase the lot,
and the kids who built his home. For decades, he and his wife stayed in a Makati condominium where one
of his hobbies is cooking.
4. Good strategic planning. 
“I am hands-on and personalized in my management style. I do not do things on impulse. I think
long and hard about every project,” says Sy.
5. Wife and children.
The not-so-secret “secret weapons” Henry Sy has had in building up and running his dynamic and
vast SM Group are his wife Felicidad Tan-Sy and his five workaholic children Tessie, Betty, Henry Jr.,
Hans, Herbert and Harley. His wife’s younger brother Dr. Paulino Y. Tan helps run his Asia Pacific
College, in which America’s IBM has a significant minority stake.
6. Focus. 
Henry Sy has chosen to focus and build on his main business of retailing. He expands to other
industries, but most of them are related to, or support, his retail interests such as banking (his Banco de
Oro, Equitable PCIBank and China Bank and credit cards support retail tenants and consumers), real
estate, movie cinemas, tourism and others.
7. Bold risk-taker. 
Old friends Philip Cuazon, Jimmy Tang and James Uy recounted that in the ‘70s, when Henry Sy
acquired a huge lease on Makati land, Ayala Group executives were said to be surprised by the boldness
of this young retailer from Carriedo, Manila. When Ninoy Aquino was assassinated in 1983, Henry Sy
persevered. He has been able to build the biggest pioneering shopping mall of SM North Edsa in Quezon
City. Even as Gringo Honasan was leading his bloody 1989 military coup, Sy was completing SM
Centerpoint in Santa Mesa, Quezon City.
When there was nothing in the Manila Bay reclamation area, and even though its location was not
at the crossroads of traffic, Henry Sy, a bold risk-taker, bought land there and confounded skeptics by
constructing the enormous seaside SM Mall of Asia even while President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was
hounded for two years by the “Hello, Garci” scandal.
8. Long-range strategic vision. 
In the postwar era, during buying trips to the US, Henry Sy noticed that shopping centers were
booming there; the shoe retailer already envisioned that one day he would build similar shopping centers
in the Philippines. Despite his quiet appearance, Sy is a determined entrepreneur who told me that he has
always envisioned himself to be No. 1 in whatever endeavors he undertakes.
At the recent dinner where he received an honorary doctorate from University of Guam, Sy said,
“Behind SM stores, malls, properties and banks, our story in SM is one of vision — one that is fueled by
a constant drive to innovate, raise the bar and create values that redefine consumer experience. It is about
constant service and quality concepts that transform people and their environment.”
9. Good reputation. 
Throughout East Asia, honor is often regarded as more important than wealth or power. In the
Hokkien dialect of Fujian province in southeast China where Henry Sy was born and spent his childhood,
shinyong refers to the old-fashioned value of “trustworthiness” — the same phrase used for the word
“credit.”
Henry Sy has impeccable shinyong, not only within the business community, but even in his
dealings internationally. At the University of Guam ceremony conferring Sy an honorary doctorate,
Guam’s American business leader Ken Jones stood up to make a speech recounting his uninterrupted,
harmonious and reliable business dealings with the SM founder since 1954. Henry Sy said, “In life and in
business, you need to be goodhearted and trustworthy. This is the way to build long-term relationships.”

10. God’s blessings. 

Henry Sy and his deeply religious wife Felicidad Tan-Sy also attribute their success ultimately
“to God’s blessings,” despite what others might call fate, destiny, good karma or so-called good luck.

8 BUSINESS LESSONS ENTREPRENEURS CAN LEARN FROM BILL GATES

1.     Move Fast and Keep Innovating

To stay competitive in saturated startup world, you should move at a faster speed and focus on
continuous innovation. This is what Bill Gates did and succeeded, and wants young entrepreneurs
to follow his example. Bill Gates thinks that “The most important speed issue is often not
technical but cultural. It’s convincing everyone that the company’s survival depends on
moving as fast as possible.”

2.     Think Ahead of the Times

In order to stay one step ahead of the competition, you need to predict the future and prepare for it
in advance. Success of Bill Gates partially depends upon his futuristic vision. Due to this,
Microsoft was always one-step ahead of the competition. Even when he was retiring, he was
thinking ahead of his time. In his exit interview to PC magazine, he predicted that mobile devices,
internet TVs, and natural user interface will gain popularity in the years to come and history
proved that he was right.

3.     Your Time Is Valuable

Bill Gates always teaches young entrepreneurs the value of time so that they refrain from whiling
away their precious work hours. That is why he advises entrepreneurs to pick their battles
carefully. Even the richest men in the world cannot buy time as one of his quotes suggests, “No
matter how much money you have, you can’t buy more time.” This reflects how valuable time
is.

The hours you waste today can never come back even if you spend millions of dollars for them.
Identify the biggest time-wasting activities in your schedule and cut them down. Conduct fruitful
meetings instead of wasting a big chunk of your monthly time on meetings that end without any
useful outcome. Avoid distractions to stay as productive as possible to achieve better results.

4.     Learn From Your Mistakes

When it comes to failure, Bill Gates suggests that you should accept failure, learn from your
mistakes, and move on instead of moaning about it and giving up. One of his famous quotes, “Its
fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” reflects his
approach regarding dealing with failures in his life.

According to Bill Gates, failure is just as important as success, because it takes you back to the
drawing board and helps you analyze the loopholes and causes of failure. As a result, you can fix
these issues and avoid making the same mistakes again but this is not possible when you succeed.
Consider failure as a learning opportunity instead of a demoralizing factor that forces you to quit.

5.     Persistence and Perseverance

Another quality that made Bill Gates successful, is his ability to persist and persevere. Paul Allen,
co-founder of Microsoft who founded the software company with Bill Gates, writes about his
persistence and perseverance in an article, “Bill craved closure and he would hammer away
until he got there.”

Entrepreneurs looking to achieve overnight success should read this quote from Bill Gates. Bill
Gates himself said, “There is nothing that was overnight.” The initial versions of the Windows
operating system (Windows 1.0, Windows 2.0) were not that successful but his persistence made
Windows, the most popular operating system in the world.
 6.     Take Risks

Young entrepreneurs should not shy away from thinking out of the box and choosing an
unexplored path. According to him, success lies in unchartered territories so entrepreneurs should
always be willing to explore untapped areas. His conviction and risk-taking propensity made
Microsoft such a hit even when no one knew much about computer software. “If you want to
win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.” The words of Bill Gates are a great source of
inspiration for entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks to achieve better rewards.

7.     Never Give Up

No matter how difficult the circumstances seem, you should have a “never say die” attitude if you
want to succeed. Failure is part of entrepreneurial life and it even affected the greatest
entrepreneur in the world. Before the inception of Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul Allen
started Traf-O-Data, a company responsible for analyzing traffic data. Unfortunately, it failed
miserably and left Gates under a lot of debt.

He learned important lessons from this failure and moved on to launch Microsoft. Even with
Microsoft, he faced initial failure but his unflinching attitude helped him dredge on. Finally,
success knocked at his door and he got the reward for not giving up on his dreams.

8.     Focus on Unhappy Customers

Most entrepreneurs treat their disgruntled customers rudely. They think that they are right in
doing so but the greatest visionary of our time has a different opinion. He considers dissatisfied
customers a huge asset since they can impart lessons you hitherto didn’t know. He said, “Your
most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”. If you want to be successful
in business, you should listen and value what your disappointed customers are saying. Take
action and improve in the light of their feedback.

Key Takeaways

If you want to be successful as an entrepreneur in today’s cutthroat era, you should follow Bill
Gates. Do not let failures stop you from pursuing your dreams. Keep innovating and exploring
 uncharted territory, as big rewards lie at the end of big risks. Mistakes and failure are part of
launching your own business, but you should learn key lessons from failures and move on.

Citation:

Kaufman, K. (2019) Forbes #2 Bill Gates Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/#1c19093e689f

Pettinger, T. (2018 February) “Biography of Bill Gates”, Oxford, UK. Retrieved from

https://www.biographyonline.net/business/bill-gates.html

Editors, TheFamousPeople (2018 August) Bill Gates Biography Retrieved from

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/william-henry-gates-iii-851.php

Jurado, E. (2019 January) The story of Henry Sy Sr. Retrieved from

http://www.manilastandard.net/opinion/columns/to-the-point-by-emil-jurado/285916/the-story-
of-henry-sy-sr-.html

Debter, L. (2018 September) Forbes #1 Henry Sy Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/profile/henry-

sy/#636c4c5d4a10

Luna, L (2019 June) The motivational story from Henry Sy Retrieved from
http://www.lloydluna.com/motivation-from-henry-sy/

Hasan, S. (2017 December) 8 Business Lessons Entrepreneurs can learn from Bill Gates Retrieved from
https://blog.taskque.com/entrepreneur-lessons-bill-gates/

Flores, W. (2007 May) 10 Secrets of Henry Sy’s Success Retrieved from https://asksonnie.info/10-
secrets-of-henry-sys-success/