Joseph Chua retires from MacroAsia, Tan grandsons take helm

MANILA, Philippines — MacroAsia Corp. has announced the retirement of taipan Lucio Tan’s son-in-law Joseph Chua.

In a disclosure yesterday, MacroAsia said its board of directors accepted the retirement of Chua as president and COO.

The board named Tan’s grandson Eduardo Luis Tan-Luy, eldest son of Tan’s daughter Irene Tan-Luy, as Chua’s successor, confirming a report by The Philippine Star. Prior to his appointment as president and COO, Tan-Luy was the treasurer of MacroAsia.

Another Tan grandson, Kyle Ellis Tan, son of the late Lucio “Bong” Tan, Jr. was elected director and treasurer of MacroAsia.

Eduardo and Kyle’s appointment took effect last Oct. 8.

The positions left by Chua in the board of MacroAsia will also be divided between Tan’s two grandsons.

Luy will be a member of the risk management and investment committees, while Kyle Tan will be a member of the mining committee.

MacroAsia said its board credited Chua for growing the ground handling firm “over the years from a small business making only P2 million, to a company that made more than a billion pesos of profit before the pandemic hit.”

Johnip Cua, chairman of the audit committee, commended Chua for managing the corporation “with integrity, with clean audit findings from our external auditors year after year.”

Chua’s retirement comes on the heels of an Oct. 6 announcement from the Tan Group, which stated that he no longer has authority to “represent any of the Tan companies and the Tan family” and that “any prior authority of representation given to Chua are deemed void and or revoked.”

PAL Holdings Inc., the parent firm of Tan-owned flag carrier Philippine Airlines, has also confirmed that the authority of Chua, one of its directors, has been withdrawn. It has yet to announce his replacement.

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.

Tan ranked No. 12 in the 2021 Forbes list of the Philippines’ 50 richest, with a net worth of $1.9 billion.