GROUP 1

By: Pethere Rebuelta, Alex

Bautista, Kyla Carrillo,
Dyna Yap, Peil Leoder
Henry T. Sy Sr is a Chinese-Filipino business
magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is also
known as the “Father of Modern Philippine Retail”.
He is involved in the industries of real estate,
hospitality, banking, mining, education, and health
care. In 2015, Forbes Magazine listed him as the
richest man in the Philippines, ahead of 11 other
billionaires including John Gokongwei and Lucio Tan.
Through 2018, Sy led the Forbes Philippines Rich
List for eleven years in a row. His estimated net
worth at the time of his death was $19 billion.
 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
 Early Life and Education
Henry Sy was born to a poor family in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, China
on October 14, 1924. He is the son of Henry H. Sy and Tan O Sia.
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.
 Early Life and Education
Following World War II, the store was obliterated along with
the rest of Manila. His family decided to return to China,
but Sy stayed and completed his secondary education at an
institution now known as the Chiang Kai Shek College in
Tondo, Manila and earned his Associate of Arts degree in
commercial studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.
 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. He opened at least three shoe stores in
the Carriedo area. 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. He sold
surplus G.I. boots and saved finances before he established
ShoeMart in 1958, his own small shoe store in Quiapo, that
marked the beginning of SM Prime.
 Career
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. On November 8, 1985, he established his first 
SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA. 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.

 Career
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.
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.
 Career
In August 2005, Sy's stake in the San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's
largest food and beverage conglomerate, reached 11%. He sold that stake in
October 2007 for $680 million. 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. 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.
 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. The interment took
place at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig, on
January 24.
“There is no substitute for hard work.
There is no such thing as an
overnight success or easy money.”

—Henry Sy