Tan grandson to succeed Chua in MacroAsia – sources

MANILA, Philippines — Lucio Tan-owned MacroAsia Corp. is expected to hold a board meeting soon to act on the advisory issued by the taipan regarding his son-in-law Joseph Chua, the company’s president and COO since 2015.

Tan is expected to name his grandson Eduardo Luis Tan Luy to succeed Chua in MacroAsia, sources told The STAR, but the Tan empire has yet to make an announcement regarding this.

Luy, 27, is the eldest son of Tan’s daughter Irene. He is presently a board director and treasurer of MacroAsia after being appointed in December 2019, following the death of Lucio “Bong” Tan, Jr. in November 2019.

Prior to MacroAsia, Luy worked at Reyes Tacandong & Co. and holds a Master in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

“He is very hardworking,” was how one source described Luy.

On Oct. 6, a public advisory was issued saying Chua has no authority to represent “Lucio C. Tan, the Tan Family and Lucio Tan Group of Companies. Any prior authority of representation given to Mr. Joseph Chua are deemed void and or revoked.”

MacroAsia said all issues would be addressed and appropriate disclosures would be made immediately thereafter.

PAL Holdings, the parent firm of Tan-owned flag carrier Philippine Airlines, confirmed that the authority of Chua, who is one of its directors, has been withdrawn.

At present, PAL Holdings is chaired by the taipan. Its other members are Carmen Tan, Lucio “Han” Tan III, Joseph Chua, Junichiro Miyagawa, Gilbert Santa Maria and Johnip Cua.

The STAR has sent numerous requests to Chua for comment, but he did not respond as of press time.

Aside from MacroAsia and PAL Holdings, Chua is also a director of Tan’s Hong Kong-listed property company Dynamic Holdings Ltd. and is chairman or director of more than a dozen other companies owned by Tan.

Other companies may also name replacements to fill the positions that would be vacated by Chua should Tan decide to totally remove him from both listed and non-listed Tan companies.

Chua, husband of Tan’s eldest daughter Rowena, holds a Master of International Finance degree from the University of Southern California and a double degree of Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Bachelor of Science in Business Management from De La Salle University.

Another son-in-law Ramon Sy Pascual, husband of another Tan daughter Sheila, also plays key roles in the empire.

Pascual was named Eton president and CEO in November 2019, succeeding Tan Jr. Another Tan daughter Karlu Tan-Say is Eton COO.

Tan’s grandson Lucio Tan III, meanwhile, also plays key positions in the empire and may also fill some of the positions that may be vacated by Chua.

Tan, 87, is a Forbes-listed billionaire whose empire spans tobacco, banking and airlines. He is currently No. 12 in the 2021 Forbes list of the Philippines’ 50 richest, with a net worth of $1.9 billion.