Henry sy

Early life and

education
Henry Sy, also known as Sy Chi
Sieng in Philippine Hokkien (Shī
Zhìchéng in Mandarin),[2] was born in Jinjiang in Fujian,[5] then still under the Republic of China
(ROC), on October 15, 1924.[6][4] At age 12, he and his family moved to the Philippines during
the Commonwealth Era under American colonial period, where his father set up a shop that sold
various household items. At his father's store, Sy helped his father sell rice, sardines and other
items. Following World War II, the store was obliterated along with the rest of Manila. [4] His family
decided to return to China,[4] but Sy stayed in the Philippines where he completed his secondary
education at an institution now known as the Chiang Kai Shek College[7] in Tondo, Manila and earned
his Associate of Arts degree in commercial studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.[8] At school, he
learned English and Filipino (Tagalog).[9]

Career
In his twenties, Sy became a store manager working for an American business involved in the local
shoe industry in the Philippines; he opened his first sole-proprietorship store in Quiapo, Manila in
1948.[2] He opened at least three shoe stores in the Carriedo area which was then known for its
heavy pedestrian traffic. His decision to sell shoes was due to the losses his family experienced in
World War II thinking that everyone would need shoes following the aftermath of the war. [7]
He sold surplus G.I. boots and saved finances before he established ShoeMart [9] in 1958, his own
small shoe store in Quiapo, that marked the beginning of SM Prime.[10] He later encountered
difficulties in sourcing shoes locally and decided to import shoes from outside the country. [9]
Sy became involved in the banking industry when he acquired Acme Savings Bank (later
renamed Banco de Oro or BDO) in 1967.[9]
In November 1972, he opened SM Quiapo, SM's first stand alone department store, and entrusted
his 22-year-old daughter Teresita to run the store.[3] On November 8, 1985, he established his
first SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA.[11] In the early 1990s, SM started opening more shopping
malls with the setting up of two malls in Metro Manila and a solitary mall in Cebu City. SM Prime
Holdings was incorporated in 1994 and went public.[9]
Sy was named "Richest Man of the Year" by the Makati Business Club in 1999 and was conferred
an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University in January of that year.
He and his wife established the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged youths, the
disabled and the elderly.[12] He established business presence in Mainland China when the SM
Group opened its first shopping mall in his native Xiamen. Other malls were later set up in other
parts of Southern China.[2]
In August 2005, Sy's stake in the San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and
beverage conglomerate, reached 11%.[13] He sold that stake in October 2007 for $680 million. [14]
Sy's holding company, SM Investments (also known as SM Group), has been frequently named as
one of the best managed companies in the Philippines. [12] SM Investments is the operator of Banco
de Oro (BDO) and owner of Chinabank. In 2006, Sy bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI
Bank, the Philippines' third largest lender, and merged it into BDO the following year. The
transaction turned BDO into the second largest financial company in the country. [12]
He was the Philippines' richest man, gaining $5 billion in 2010, amid the global financial crisis. The
huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments, which has interests in BDO, inter alia.
[12]
 For 11 straight years until his death in 2019, Forbes ranked him as the richest person in the
Philippines, with an estimated net worth of US$19 billion in 2019. [4][3]
In 2017, Sy stepped down as chairman of SM Investments Corporation and was given the honorary
title of Chairman Emeritus as recognition for being the founder of the SM Group. Jose Sio
succeeded Sy as chairman.[15]

Personal life
Sy was married to Felicidad Tan, who was a shoelace vendor. The couple had six children: Teresita,
Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert, and Harley. Teresita and Henry Jr. are vice chairpersons of SM
Investments, serving under chairman Jose Sio, a longtime lieutenant of Henry Sr. Harley serves as
executive director of SM.
Sy had several grandchildren, including the deceased Jan Catherine Sy, from his son Henry Jr. and
Marc Sy, from his daughter Elizabeth Sy 

Death
Sy died in his sleep on January 19, 2019, aged 94. He was discovered on the morning of that day, in
his home in Forbes Park, Makati.[19] The interment took place at the Heritage Memorial Park
in Taguig, on January 24.
Death of Henry Sy

President Rodrigo Duterte pays his last respects, January 20, 2019

Born in Xiamen, China in November 1924, Henry Sy was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Wanting to escape poverty, Henry followed his father to the Philippines only to experience a
miserable youth in a foreign country. Sy struggled hard living in a foreign country as an immigrant
and had to learn the local language. Determined to become successful, he worked hard day and night
to provide for his needs.
Sy started out with a small sari-sari store business that helped them in their day-to-day life. Sy and
his father lived in a small space until the fruits of their labor made them successful in the following
years. However, when the Philippine economy collapsed in World War II, their store burned down
that forced his father to go back to China. Henry Sy stayed in the Philippines and built his own shoe
business in Marikina.
Sy did not have an overnight success. He enrolled himself to school and was able to graduate college
with a degree in commerce from Far Eastern University. Sy also changed legal names, sold rejected
and overrun shoes, plus many other setbacks that he had to face early in life. He did not give up and
pushed through maybe because he knew that something big, which is what he has now, is about to
come.
After a series of failures in his business, Henry Sy stood back up and persevered to attain his goal. He
established a small shoe store in Quiapo, Manila in 1958 named “Shoe Mart” that eventually marked
the establishment of SM Prime Holdings. Now with three of the most valuable companies in the
Philippines: SM Investments Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., valued at over Php 1 trillion each,
and BDO Unibank, valued at around Php 635 million, he has become the richest man in the country
for 11 consecutive years since 2005 and ranked 52nd in Forbes World Billionaires List of 2018.