2. Henry Sy
⁻ Born in Fijuan, China on October 15, 1924
- 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.
- Following World War II, the store was
obliterated along with the rest of Manila.
- His family decided to return to China, but Sy
stayed in the Philippines.
3. Henry Sy
- He 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
- 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.
4. Henry Sy
- Getting customers from his store has been a
struggle for him
- He noticed that Mercury Drugstore has
countless loyal customers who kept coming
back over and over again. One day, he decided
to politely ask the owner if he can rent a very
small portion of the area for his proposed little
shoe store.
- He was rejected
5. Henry Sy
- He sold surplus G.I. boots
and saved finances before
he established ShoeMart
in 1958, his own small
shoe store in Quiapo.
6. Henry Sy
Sy became involved in the
banking industry when he
acquired Acme Savings Bank
(later renamed Banco de Oro
or BDO) in 1967
7. Henry Sy
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
8. Henry Sy
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.
9. Henry Sy
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.
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.
10. Henry Sy
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.
11. Henry Sy
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.
He was the Philippines' richest man, gaining $5 billion in 2010, amid the global
financial crisis.
12. Henry Sy
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.
13. Personal Life
Married to Felicidad Tan (a shoelace vendor).
They had 6 Children
- Teresita
- Elizabeth
- Henry Jr.
- Hans
- Herbert
- Harley
Sy siblings net worth $12.6B
14. Personal Life
He had several grandchildren
-Jan Catherine Sy (from Henry Jr.)
-Marc Sy (from Elisabeth Sy)
15. 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.
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.
16. ANALYSIS
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.
SY was also a great philanthropist who donated whole buildings to our top universities, numerous
school and houses all over the country and gave scholarships to many Filipinos.
One of the important lessons Sy taught his team was about customer service – to make sure to serve more people
and to serve them better. This was crucial especially in catering to customers’ evolving needs in the new environment.
