Where Did The Richest Filipinos Go To School?

by Sasha Lim Uy, Esquire Magazine

Robbie Antonio

How, where, and even why you went to college probably won’t be an indication on how your life (and bank account) will turn out, but the answers might carry some privileges. Bill Gates himself—the world’s riches man and a college dropout—regularly stresses the value of education:

“I think the value of getting a great education—that is going to college—is easy to underestimate. The most interesting jobs require a college education. The STEM related jobs are probably the most interesting although they are not for everyone. The value of staying curious—reading a lot and learning new things even after college is also underestimated.” (March 2016, Reddit AMA)

Gates constantly advocates for college education on his blog, once writing, “Although I dropped out of college and got lucky pursuing a career in software, getting a degree is a much surer path to success”; he’s also called the college dropout rate in the United States “tragic.”

It’s the same here. Though some of the Philippines’ richest individuals may not have completed their degrees, they still emphasize the value of education—if not in words, then through their actions: sending their children to topnotch institutions, providing scholarships, and donating academic facilities. Here we look at the academic histories of some of the country’s richest for inspiration:

Henry Sy Sr. ($18 billion)
Chiang Kai Shek College (high school)
Associate Arts, Commercial Studies, Far Eastern Universtiy (1950)

John Gokongwei Jr. ($6 billion)*
San Carlos University
MBA, De La Salle University (1961)
Harvard Management Program (1971)

Enrique Razon Jr. ($4.3 billion)
BS Business Administration, De La Salle University (1980)

Lucio Tan ($4.2 billion)
BS Chemical Engineering, Far Eastern University
Received an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Santo Tomas under the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (2003)
Received a BS Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Santo Tomas under the Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (2006)

Jaime Zobel de Ayala ($3.7 billion)
BA Architectural Science, Harvard University (1957)
Took the Advanced Management Program by the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Baguio (1963)

David Consunji ($3.6 billion)
BS Civil Engineering, University of the Philippines (1947)
Consunji passed away in September 2017

George Ty ($3.6 billion)*
BS Commerce, University of Santo Tomas
Enrolled in 1955 but dropped out to focus on business
Received an honorary Humanities doctorate from the same university in 2014

Tony Tan Caktiong ($3.4 billion)
BS Chemical Engineering, University of Santo Tomas (1975)
Earned certificates from Harvard University, Asian Institute of Management, University of Michigan Business School, and Harvard Business School
Received honorary doctorates from the Far Eastern University, St. Paul University, and Southwestern University

Andrew Tan ($2.5 billion)
BS Accounting, University of the East (1974)

Ramon Ang
BS Mechanical Engineering, Far Eastern University (1981)

Manuel Villar ($1.65 billion)
BS Business Administration, University of the Philippines (1970)
Masters in Business Administration, University of the Philippines (1973)

Robert Coyiuto Jr. ($1.5 billion)
BSC, San Beda College

Mercedes Gotianun ($1.4 billion)
BS, University of the Philippines (1950)

Roberto Ongpin ($1.15 billion)
BS Business Administration, Ateneo de Manila University (1957)
Masters in Business Administration, Harvard University

Eduardo Cojuangco ($1.1 billion)*
Lafayette College

Dean Lao ($1 billion)
BS Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic Colleges of the Philippines

Ricardo Po Sr. ($980 million)*
BS Industrial Chemistry, University of Santo Tomas
Masters in Business Administration, University of Santo Tomas (2005)

Edgar Sia ($820 million)*
BS Architecture, University of San Agustin

Oscar M. Lopez ($760 million)
BA Harvard University (1951)
Masters in Public Administration, Littauer School of Public Administration, Harvard University (1955)
Received an honrary doctorate from the De La Salle University (2010)
Received an honorary doctorate from the Ateneo de Manila University (2010)
Received a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from the Philippine Women’s University (2009)
Received a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from the University of the Philippines (2012)

Carlos Chan ($620 million)*
BS Architecture, Mapua Institute of Technology

Alfredo Yao ($600 million)*
BS Chemical Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology (1962)
Received an honorary doctorate from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Frederick Dy ($520 million)
BS Industrial Engineering, Cornell University 

Jacinto Ng ($420 million)
BS Chemical Engineering, Mapua Institute of Technology

Jose Antonio ($400 million, with his son, Robbie)
BS Commercial Science, San Beda College (1966)

Robbie Antonio ($400 million, with his father Jose)
BS Economics, Northwestern University
Masters in Business Administration, Stanford University

Michael Cosiquien ($385 million)
BS Civil Engineering, De La Salle University (1995)

Jorge Araneta ($380 million)
BS Business Administration, University of the Philippines

Edgar Saavedra ($375 million)
BS Civil Engineering, De La Salle University (1996)

Mariano Tan Jr. ($370 million)
BA Economics and Business, Lafayette College (1983)
Master of Science in Management, Hult International Business School Massachusetts (1986)

Jon Aboitiz ($350 million, with his brother Mikel)
BS Management, Santa Clara University

Mikel Aboitiz ($350 million, with his brother Jon)
BS Business Administration, Gonzaga University

Manuel Zamora ($280 million)
BS University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines Law School
Ranked 3rd on the Bar in 1961

Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Jr. ($240 million)
BS Business Administration, University of Southern California

Vivian Que Azcona ($230 million)
BS Pharmacy, University of Santo Tomas (1977)
Management Program, Asian Institute of Management (1978)

Eric Recto ($225 million)
BS Industrial Engineering, University of the Philippines
Masters in Business Administration, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Jose Ma. Concepcion ($220 million)
BS Business Management, De La Salle University

Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. ($190 million)
BCS Jose Rizal College (1941)

Felipe Gozon ($170 million)

Bachelor of Laws, University of the Philippines
Master of Law, Yale University
Ranked 13th on the Bar in 1962

Menardo R. Jimenez ($165 million)
BS Commerce, Far Eastern University
BS Accounting, Far Eastern University

Walter William Brown ($160 million)
BS Physical Science, University of the Philippines (1959)
BS Geology, University of the Philippines (1960)
Master of Science in Geology, Stanford University (1963)
Doctorate in Geology, Major in Geo-Chemistry (1965)

Gilberto Duavit ($155 million)
AB Philosophy, University of the Philippines

Eusebio Tanco ($150 million)
AB Economics, Ateneo de Manila University
Master of Science in Economics and Political Science, London School of Economics

Juliette Romualdez ($145 million)
BS Education, Maryknoll College

Michael Romero ($135 million)
BS Management, De La Salle University
Masters in Business Management, Asian Institute of Management
Doctorate in Business Administration, De La Salle University (2006)
Doctorate in Political Economics (2008)

Erramon Aboitiz ($130 million)
BS Business Administration Major in Accounting and Finance, Gonzaga University

Luis Virata ($125 million)
AB Economics, Trinity College, Cambridge University
Master of Arts in Economics, Trinity College, Cambridge University (1976)
Masters in Business Administration, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1979)

Philip Ang ($120 million)
Business Administration, Oregon University
Masters in Business Administration, University of Denver

*Dropped out/ did not graduate

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Related Links:  About Robbie Antonio

Century Properties continues to raise the bar in luxury living

by Rizal Raoul Reyes, Business Mirror

THE economic boom in Southeast Asia has led to the growing affluence of its people. With a bigger purchasing power, several developers have been encouraged to venture into the luxury market. As a result, this has also led into the entry of high-class brands in housing paraphernalia.

Although a big number of famous brands have entered the Philippine market, none has created much impact than the entry of one of the most esteemed names in luxury furnishings and interior design—Armani/Casa.

Robbie Antonio, managing director of Century Properties Group, said the launching of Century Spire in 2014, as the first luxury mixed-use tower in the region to be designed by the world-leading Italian brand of Giorgio Armani, has been a very positive addition to the luxury property market. He added that the project continues to draw interest from affluent Filipinos and foreign nationals, with the highest concentration in Asia.

“Excitement always surrounds exceptional developments, and especially so if its value is magnified by a design brand that is revered the world over. Through its remarkable interior design for Century Spire, Armani/Casa perfectly captures the Asian market with finer tastes in luxury,” said Antonio in a press statement.

The design studio’s projects in Asia include the Maçka Residences in Istanbul and the World Towers in Mumbai. Manila, Philippines, is joining this prestigious collection of Armani/Casa Interior Design Studio creations through the Century Spire project, underscoring the country’s maturity in view of global luxury.

Giorgio Armani said the Century Spire project continues to be a game changer in the property-development sector. “Developers, like the  Century Properties Group, have projected the real-estate sector in its full maturity, changing Manila’s urban landscape and helping to make the country a top destination worldwide,” Armani said.

For Century Spire’s residential component, Armani/Casa is responsible for the design of common spaces and amenities, which include the grand lobby, library, swimming pool with juice bar and relaxation area, as well as the spa, gym and fitness areas. In addition, on request, residential apartments can be delivered with full Armani/Casa interior design, finish and furniture as a special commission.

Complementing the elegance of Armani/Casa’s interior design for Century Spire is the equally arresting tower architecture conceived by the renowned architecture firm Studio Daniel Libeskind.

“I’m interested in the dialogue between two companies that have different ‘languages’: that of a rigorous Armani style and the unpredictable style of architecture called ‘deconstructive,’ with shapes that seem to break the rules. I also find it very interesting that this dialogue takes place in an emerging and promising context like the Philippines,” Armani said.

 

Related Links: About Robbie Antonio, Contact

The Next Big Thing

He has collaborated with a sea of name-droppable luminaries including architectural legend IM Pei, design extraordinaire Philippe Starck, and the Trumps, Hiltons and Missonis. But these days, the name making waves is that of his own — Robbie Antonio.
Like business partners Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump, with whom he recently launched Trump Tower Manila, Antonio is a real estate scion who can actually boast of have stepped out of the shadows of an illustrious father by seizing opportunities and adding lustre to the family portfolio.
Son of Jose Antonio, the billionaire founder of Philippines-based Century Properties, the 35-year-old’s first taste of the headlines was in the late 2000s when instead of returning home from the US after graduate school, he incorporated the firm Antonio Development and built The Centurion, a luxury condominium in New York’s Plaza District.
Antonio’s coup was not only in acquiring the area’s first ground-up development in 20 years, but also in securing the services of IM Pei, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect critically lauded for the Bank of China building in Hong Kong, Raffles City in Singapore and the Pyramid of the Louvre in Paris. Designed in collaboration with his son Sandi, The Centurion is the only condominium Pei has designed in a six-decade career.
Could the next-generation property magnate not have chosen a more difficult project to cut his teeth on, I ask when we meet on the sidelines of an art fair in Singapore. (Blouin Artinfo describes him as one of the Philippines’ biggest art collectors, if not, certainly its youngest.) Barely skipping a beat, he says: “It would have been a little too easy at that time to go home to the Philippines and see what I could do there to contribute to [Century Properties]. I wanted to do something very entrepreneurial. It was obviously very challenging, but very rewarding.”
In New York, he met Ivanka who introduced him to the rest of the clan including dad Donald. Professing the mantra “country first, company second, and project third”, Antonio, who had by then returned to the family fold, set out to convince The Apprentice star of his hometown’s growing economic might, resulting in a publicity feat of sizable proportions — Trump Tower Manila, the first Trump-branded property in Asia this decade. Developed by Century Properties, the residential development will become the Philippines’ tallest building when completed in 2016.
“The Trumps are about the superlatives. They want to be the biggest, the tallest, it’s always an -est. Keeping that philosophy in mind we had to convince them it was the right property at the right time,” says Antonio. On the Donald, he adds: “With him you have to be very direct and very specific about what the goals and targets are in a short amount of time. The guy is brilliant.”
As managing director of Century Properties, Antonio is in charge of innovating game-changing projects and branding initiatives. His Trump deal is only but one in a recent slew of big-name tie-ups. Versace Home is designing the interiors of the group’s Milano Residences in Makati. MissoniHome is bringing its colourful aesthetic to the Residences at Acqua Livingstone. And John Hitchcox and Philippe Starck’s design studio Yoo is charged with Acqua Iguaza, the pair’s first residential tower in the Philippines.
Star architects and designers are a big draw to homebuyers, he says: “It’s pride of ownership. When you own the first condominium by Versace in Asia or the first Missoni condominium in the world, it’s limited edition.” Such collaborations, he also acknowledges, allow the group to “achieve a premium”. “I have a commercial point of view and an aesthetic point of view, and I like to marry that and keep a balance between those two,” he explains.
Antonio, after all, comes across as the sort of art-and-design geek who can write a dissertation on Abstract Expressionism or the Mid-Century aesthetic off the top of his head. It’s that fixation with creative expression that even has the entrepreneur picking out door hinges in person, or flying to China or Italy to look for just the right stones for his buildings. “I’m 100-percent focused on the details, too obsessed sometimes,” he concedes.
Robbie Antonio on…
Personal style
“Because of what I do, people think I care a lot about brands. But sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I don’t wear logos and 90 percent of the time I don’t even wear a belt or watch. I’m more particular about design and I tend to favour bespoke items because it’s about personal style and taste.”
Some of the artists he collects
“Marilyn Minter, Maurizio Cattelan, Kenny Scharf and Tracey Emin. They are all people who I have either met or respect for their tremendous amounts of knowledge in their art. Art is not just visual. It’s how your sensibilities are affected or influenced.”
His new New York residence
“It’s going to be completely contemporary and super abstract. Because I gravitate to art and design, I have to make sure that it’s visually impactful. It’s a project I’m super obsessed with.”

 

BY LAUREN TAN, Prestige Online

Related Links: About Robbie Antonio , Contact