Chen Yongzai
Lucio Tan (born July 17, 1934), was born in Houzhai Village, Qingyangju, Qingyang Town, Jinjiang County, Fujian Province. He is a Chinese entrepreneur and billionaire based in both the Philippines and Hong Kong. Tan is a beer and tobacco tycoon in the Philippines and a real estate magnate in Hong Kong. He is the second richest man in the Philippines (after Henry Sy). He owns Asia Brewery, the second-largest brewery in the Philippines, and has been a major financial backer of former Philippine President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.
In 1990, Tan took over the well-known private university, University of the East, considered the largest and most promising in the Philippines. In 2000, after acquiring Philippine Airlines, he led the “China-Philippines flight suspension” incident to avoid competition with China Airlines.
The LT Group provides over 50,000 jobs in the Philippines. Lucio Tan has also invested heavily in Hong Kong real estate.[1] Eton Properties is one of his property development companies in Hong Kong, which has focused on the luxury property market, with developments such as 2 Headland Road in Stanley (Step Mansion), 53 Shouson Hill Road (The Argyle), Eton Garden, Carmen Garden, Dragon Terrace, Eton Commercial Centre, The Charterhouse in Wan Chai, Apple Mall in Tin Hau and Causeway Bay, and others.
He owns the largest cigarette manufacturing company in the Philippines—Fortune Tobacco, one of the world’s oldest and largest gin distilleries—Tanduay Distillers, Asia’s largest and most modern pig farm—Fortune Farms, and one of the most asset-rich banks in the Philippines—Allied Bank. He also owns the world’s only national airline run by ethnic Chinese—Philippine Airlines.
Lucio Tan holds a doctoral degree and is well-versed in *The Art of War* by Sun Tzu. He has a strong passion for industrial development and Chinese culture. He once said, “I started from industry. I believe in building industry steadily and firmly, laying a solid foundation step by step, which gives me peace of mind. Chinese culture is the crystallization of more than five thousand years of civilization. It is a precious treasure of the world’s cultural heritage. It originates from China, but it belongs to the whole world.”
Life
Lucio Tan was born in Jinjiang, Fujian Province. In his childhood, his entire family immigrated to the Philippines. He later graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of Far Eastern University.
- **1966**: Founded Fortune Tobacco in a humble house. - **1970**: Established Southeast Asia’s first large-scale pig farm in Tainan, Taiwan, producing 50 tons of pork daily. - **1977**: Acquired the defunct General Bank and Trust Company from the Philippine government and renamed it Allied Bank (predecessor of the Philippine National Bank). - **1978**: Entered the construction industry, securing large public infrastructure projects such as power plants, bridges, and docks. - **1982**: After President Marcos lifted the ban on new breweries, he founded Asia Brewery. - **1985**: Purchased the Century Park Hotel. - **1990**: Took over the University of the East. - **1993**: Acquired the financially struggling Philippine Airlines. - **1995**: Founded MacroAsia Corporation to provide international-level aircraft maintenance, catering, and ground services for Philippine and foreign airlines.
He has consistently ranked among the top ten richest people in the Philippines on the *Forbes Global Billionaires List*.
External Links
- [ABS-CBN News - Tan, Sy, Ayala on Forbes billionaires list (archived)](https://web.archive.org/web/20060321051305/http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/topofthehour.aspx?StoryId=32291) - [Forbes.com - World's Richest People 2006 - Lucio Tan (archived)](http://www.forbes.com//lists/2006/10/FQVX.html) - [Lucio Tan biography (archived)](https://web.archive.org/web/20080701114649/http://www.huayinet.org/biography/biography_luciotan.htm)