The love lives of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs
February 13, 2006 | 12:00am
The most precious possession that ever comes to a man in this world is a woman’s heart. – Josiah G. Holland
The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller
How are the love lives of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs? Is it true that while writers and artists are great romantics, entrepreneurs are boring when it comes to the business of love? The entrepreneur in me disagrees – business people can be romantic because they are passionate, creative, determined and they take the boldest risks.
Once, I asked the country’s wealthiest billionaire Lucio C. Tan how many wives he has, and the media-shy taipan smiled and replied, "Wilson, I will first have to ask my accountants."
At a dinner in The Podium, I asked SM Group/Banco de Oro founder Henry Sy why he is known as a faithful husband to Felicidad Tan Sy. He responded, "I have only one wife because it’s my nature. My wife is my best friend."
An almost mythic figure in business and politics due to his visionary leadership, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, Jr. is married to Maria Soledad "Gretchen" Oppen. The devoted wife hails from a sugar-planting family in Negros Occidental.
Ayala Group patriarch Jaime Zobel de Ayala is happily married to Beatriz Miranda Zobel de Ayala from Spain, while his eldest son Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala is married to US-educated Elizabeth "Lizzie" Eder Zobel de Ayala from a top Hispanic clan in Colombia. She is a businesswoman and dedicated philanthropist with advocacies in the arts and culture, literacy, and maternal and child health care.
Shipping magnate Endika Aboitiz of the Aboitiz Transport Group is married to artist Valeria Cavestany from Barcelona, Spain. He said that his only son Danel Aboitiz met his European girlfriend when they were both studying Mandarin in Beijing, and he recalled that Chinese people in Hong Kong would be amazed to see the two young Caucasians talking to each other in fluent Mandarin.
John Gokongwei Jr. has been asking me repeatedly to whom and when will I get married. His advice is for me to decide wisely because it is the most important decision I will make in my life. He said the happiest time of his life was the day he married his intelligent, humble and good-hearted wife Elizabeth Limsico Yu, who raised their six kids well.
Gokongwei admits that while he is good in math and the sciences, Elizabeth is the better one in the arts, literature and music. Though both of them speak Hokkien fluently, it is his wife who acts as his Mandarin interpreter whenever they travel all over China. He says with pride, "My son Lance inherited his mother’s looks and my brains." He is happy for son Lance for having married a good wife in Jay Leong-Gokongwei, mother of Hannah and Jacob. His eldest daughter Robina Gokongwei-Pe is married to Columbia-educated lawyer Atty. Perry Pe.
Did you know that when Gokongwei was courting his wife, he wore used clothing from the US? As a youth trading goods from Cebu to Manila via Lucena, he had a crush on the Cantonese owner’s daughter. He was 19 when he set up his first company, called Amasia, which was importing textile remnants, fruits, old newspapers and magazines and used clothing from the US. He earned good money plus the added benefit of being able to wear some of his stock whenever he would go out with Elizabeth. Very few people know this, but the simple-living Gokongwei didn’t host a wedding party in Cebu on the day of his marriage, which was also the same day as his younger sister Lily’s wedding.
When I pointedly asked him why he was loyal to just one wife unlike other tycoons, Gokongwei laughed and jokingly replied, "How sure are you that I have only one wife?"
The world’s second wealthiest billionaire and legendary investor Warren Buffett has a less-than-ideal love life. Buffett and his wife Susan Thompson married in 1952, but they separated in 1977 with the wife pursuing a music career in California. It was announced that Buffett was beside her when she died of a stroke in 2004. They never divorced, but for years they led separate lives – she in San Francisco, California, while he was with his lover Astrid Menks in Omaha. It’s ironic that he was originally introduced to his lover by his wife. For many years after their marriage broke up, Warren Buffet would sign giftcards to friends with all their three names.
Warren and Susan Buffett used to still go to social functions as husband and wife, and she remained on the board of his flagship firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Before she died, Buffett announced that his wealth – then worth $42.9 billion – would all be inherited by her, then eventually to the Buffett Foundation which she used to lead as its president. Buffett and Thompson had three children, but none of them would inherit his fabulous fortune, because he believes expectations of a big inheritance would spoil them. He and his wife maintained their friendship and even traveled together despite their failed marriage.
The apple of the eyes of Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs is his wife Laurene Powell and the mother of his three kids. He also once sired a daughter with Chris Brennan whom he never married. He once seriously dated American folk singer, songwriter and political activist Joan Chandoz Baez, a former lover of singer, songwriter and poet Bob Dylan.
In his famous speech last year before Stanford’s graduating class, Steve Jobs imparted his ideas on finding one’s life vocation and romance: "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle."
In love as in business, use your head as well as your heart, for your choices in love shall immeasurably affect your life and your future. Don’t regret, don’t fear failure or mistakes. I’ve always believed the cliché that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.
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