Pushing 90, Gokongwei sets sights on retirement

CEBU, Philippines – Taipan John Gokongwei said he is ready to retire next year when he turns 90, and will instead focus on his philantrophic work.

Gokongwei, chairman of conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., said his only son Lance is doing a good job running the family-owned business empire.

“I am going to retire when I turn 90. I still attend Friday meetings and for big decision makings….super big ones…they ask me so we discuss it…but Lance is doing a good job,” Gokongwei said in a chat with reporters late Thursday.

He would instead focus on the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation and its philantrophic activities.

“I’m the chairman of the foundation. That job I am going to keep,” he noted.

The foundation was launched in 1992 with  Gokongwei’s three brothers. It has helped schools such as Ateneo, La Salle, and soon the University of the Philippines.

Gokongwei was in Cebu, his hometown, for the grand opening of Robinsons Galleria Cebu, Robinsons Land Corp.’s third largest mall in the country, next to Robinsons Manila and Galleria in Ortigas.  The newly opened shopping center is the group‘s biggest outside Manila.

Gokongwei, who was born in China to Filipino parents,  arrived in Cebu when he was one-year-old. He then built his multi-billion dollar empire in Cebu by trading goods off on a bicycle and on board a small boat off the pier of the province.

“I am a Cebuano. I left Manila when I was 22,” he said.

Afte 89 years, Gokongwei said he has nothing more to ask given the success of his business empire and only hopes it would stay as successful as it is today to be able to help not just his family and stockholders but the country as well.

His personal wish is to sustain good health, he said.

Asked about politics and next year’s elections, Gokongwei declined to comment but noted the Philippines is progressing well.

“We’ve been doing well in the past six years,” he said.

However, he noted the Philippines needs to compete in tourism.