Honor students—like famous dropouts—also excel as successful entrepreneurs

When my past columns mentioned a high proportion of the wealthiest self-made billionaires in the Philippines and the world are school dropouts, some readers asked: What about the top honor graduates and their prospects for business success?

I have good news. It seems some of the gutsiest entrepreneurs now leading Philippine firms to boldly seize opportunities abroad in a globalization push are academic high achievers, too, like taipan John Gokongwei Jr.’s youngest brother, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-educated James Go, and son Wharton double-degree summa cum laude graduate Lance Y. Gokongwei, also University of the East (UE) cum laude graduate Andrew Tan of Global Alliance Group, Inc.

The Gokongwei family’s Universal Robina Corp. recently bought Australia’s No. 2 salty snacks producer Consolidated Snacks Pty Ltd. for half a billion dollars. In 2014, URC bought New Zealand’s top snack producer Griffin’s Foods for $608 million. I wouldn’t be surprised if, one of these days, 90-year-old John Gokongwei, Jr. would soon become No. 1 in the “Forbes” magazine list of wealthiest billionaires.

No less audacious and a possible contender for future No. 1 rank in the Forbes list is Megaworld founder Andrew Tan, whose Emperador bought Whyte & McKay of Britain for over half a billion dollars plus purchasing Spain’s Fundador.

* * *

A good example of an academically gifted student who has done well in business is former Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) president and now Far Eastern University (FEU) chairman Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III.  He is a graduate of Ateneo and Harvard Business School. He also received the “Management Man of the Year” award in 2012 from the MAP, Asian Banker Leadership Award, Legion d’Honneur (Chevalier) from the French government.

Under Montinola’s outstanding leadership, FEU is improving existing campuses, has acquired control of Roosevelt College for P1 billion in April, and is expanding in Alabang.

The new FEU Alabang campus is rising on a 2.2-hectare lot in the Woods District of booming Filinvest City in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Filinvest City Alabang is a showcase urban development project of the Gotianun family whose leaders like Mercedes Tan Gotianun, daughter University of Chicago graduate Josephine Gotianun-Yap and son Northwestern University graduate Jonathan Gotianun of East West Bank are all also consistent honor students in their youth.

* * *

Thanks to realty and mining businessman Jose “Joey” P. Leviste, Jr. for sending me his interesting book What if the Philippines had a Lee Kuan Yew? He said that he launched this book last year long before then Davao City Mayor Rody R. Duterte was even considered a serious contender for the presidency. Leviste said is pleasantly surprised by the series of bold reforms and actions of Duterte, whose political will and determination to push reforms remind him of Singapore’s late statesman Lee Kuan Yew.

Some politicians and pundits have belittled Lee Kuan Yew’s accomplishments due to the small land area and population of Singapore, not recognizing its big gross national product (GNP) size, its diplomatic and strategic influence due in large measure to Lee’s leadership.

By the way, Leviste is also an academic achiever at the Ateneo de Manila University (where he was elected student council president), Columbia University and Fordham University.

* * *

Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president Atty. Arnel Casanova is another academically proficient and conscientious student who became successful in his professional career and now a leader in the Philippine economy. He studied English as well as urban planning at University of the Philippines (UP) and then earned his master degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Harvard University.

BCDA will become one of the Philippines’ biggest sources of economic dynamism and good news, with the development of the new 9,450-hectare Clark Green City in Pampanga expected to house 1.12 million residents. This will also be home to 800,000 workers who would contribute a gross output of P1.57 trillion pesos annually to the economy, or estimated to be about 4% the Philippines’ yearly economic output.

* * *

Mercury Drugstore chain’s low-key boss Vivian Que Azcona is graduated with her BS Pharmacy degree with “cum laude” honors from the University of Santo Tomas. After this, she took up the Basic Management Program of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). She is president of the Mercury Group of Companies and Mercury Drug Foundation.

Meralco’s head of marketing and customer solutions Tony Valdez is another honor student who has risen to success. He is a business management honors program graduate, top editor of the Ateneo college newspaper Guidon and took his MBA from AIM. He and his team are helping the country’s leading power conglomerate to improve customer service and customer education on how to save on unnecessary electricity expenses.

Tony Valdez believes that if customers gain savings and keep more money, then entrepreneurs will reinvest in expanding their business and consumers can improve quality of life by investing in other gadgets or appliances too.

* * *

Thanks for your feedback! Email willsoonflourish@gmail.com or follow WilsonLeeFlores on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.