Breaking
SM Group founder Henry Sy Sr. dies at 94
FILE: The 94-year-old business magnate was the founder of the SM group and also the Chairman Emeritus of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), SM Prime Holdings Inc., SM Development Corporation, Highlands Prime, Inc., and BDO Unibank Inc. (Photo: SM Investments Corporation/website)
The Philippine business industry is in shock and grief after learning that one of its leading lights, Chinese-Filipino business tycoon Henry Sy, Sr., passes away on Saturday, January 19.
This news was confirmed by Steven Tan, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SM Supermalls.
“With deep sadness, I would like to inform the group that our beloved Chairman Tatang, Mr. Henry Sy Sr, passed away peacefully in his sleep early Saturday morning,” Tan said in a statement.
“Please pray for the eternal repose of his soul,” he added.
As of writing, there are no further details about his death yet, but Rappler reported that the businessman was supposed to go at the Makati Medical Center on Saturday for his regular laboratory tests.
Details on Sy’s wake are also yet to be disclosed.
The 94-year-old business magnate was the founder of the SM group and also the Chairman Emeritus of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC), SM Prime Holdings Inc., SM Development Corporation, Highlands Prime, Inc., and BDO Unibank Inc.
Sy was also the Honorary Chairman of China Banking Corporation, according to his profile on SMIC’s website.
American business magazine Forbes earlier reported that the owner of SM Malls remains to be the richest man in the Philippines for 11 consecutive years.
As of September 2018, Sy has earned a net worth of $18.3-billion from his diversified business.
He bested other well-known business tycoons like Manuel “Manny” Villar, John Gokongwei, Jr., Jaime Zobel de Ayala, and Enrique Razon, Jr., who landed on the second, third, fourth, and fifth spot, respectively, on Forbes’ Philippines rich list in September.
It was in 1958 when Sy first opened his Shoemart store in Manila. He eventually transformed it into an empire with three lines of businesses: retail, banking, and property.
