How does one become a tycoon in this country where very few people can actually make it big, like really big?
Do you have to come from the land of Asia’s first billionaires in Xiamen, China? Or do you have to be the son or daughter of a self-made billionaire from that famed Chinese port city?
Do you have to steal, lie, bribe, or do you just have to be a spoiled COO – child of owner – to make it to the top?
Or just like the origin of the Japanese word, do you have to be a “taikun” which means great lord or shogun?
There’s never a single answer, but for businessman Antonio Tiu, who is turning out to be country’s next tycoon, it has to do with “hard work, frugality and lots of prayers.”
You see he is neither a migrant from Fujian nor is he the son of a Fujian, billionaire. In fact, his 45-year old father died when he was just 19, leaving him the responsibility of looking after the financial needs of the family. A fire also destroyed their family’s business.
But Tiu managed to rise above the adversity and is now on his way up. By the looks of it, it seems that time has come for this self-made billionaire to rise to the top.
Antonio Tiu may, indeed, be the country’s next tycoon, if he isn’t already.
Listening to him for almost two hours on a rainy Friday morning last week in a press conference at Philippine STAR’s Wilson Lee Flores’ Kamuning Bakery, I couldn’t help thinking this guy is on a roll.
From farming to building the country’s first subway
Not too long ago, in 2014, he was under the spotlight too but for the wrong reasons. His name was dragged into the controversy surrounding the wealth of former vice president Jejomar Binay. Tiu was named as one of Binay’s dummies.
He was later vindicated and in 2016, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. also cleared him of a $20.46 million alleged money laundering transaction, saying they made a mistake.
Just last month, a Manila RegionalTrial Court unfroze the bank accounts of Greenergy from a previous freeze order in relation to the Binay controversy.
Now, Tiu is back in the limelight, but this time for much better reasons.
He is the name behind some of the country’s fast growing companies, listed AgriNurture Inc., Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc., Greenergy Holdings, and the soon-to-list The Big Chill Inc.
All these at a young age of 43.
Rice
When I got to the press conference, I was embarrassingly late. Metro Manila was in a gridlock because of the downpour.
Tiu was already talking about his plans for the farming sector.
He says the Philippines should move toward a more organized way of farming and lending to farmers should rise significantly.
The problem of irrigation should also be addressed, he says.
“No water, no rice...We should set up dryers and protect farmers from unnecessary leakage....We also need to build food terminals so there will be a market place for farmers,” he said.
The Makati subway
Shifting to another topic, Tiu also talked about his plans to build a $3.5 billion Makati subway.
He says the project would create 6,000 jobs in the construction phase alone and would really ease traffic in Metro Manila
The subway would connect key points in Makati such as the central business district along Ayala Avenue, the Makati City Hall, the Poblacon Heritage Site and the other new business districts within the city.
Tiu is excited about his projects. He thought of creating a subway when he had to lay low in 2015 because of the controversy that surrounded him at the time.
Secrets to success
Tiu is a practicing Buddhist. Guided by the Confucian Way, he has a very relaxed and calm demeanor. It’s a rare mood I get only when I’m in my yoga class once a week but for Tiu, it seems to be in his whole system. He also believes in eastern medicine and is a vegetarian.
When Wilson asked him about his secrets to success, Tiu had this to say: “hard work, frugality and lots of prayers.”
Once, when we were talking about a popular politician who lost in the recent elections, Tiu theorized that it was in the man’s Feng Shui. He says it was time for the man to slow down to move to his next cycle wherein he would rise up again. Or something like that.
Perhaps this, too, is what’s dictating Tiu’s fate now. After hitting rock bottom years ago, his time to become the man that he is destined to be has finally come.
Will he be the country’s next tycoon? Only time will tell, but if and when he does, I hope that his businesses would indeed help Filipino farmers because it’s a big step that can really move the country forward.
That, in the end, could spell the difference between just another money-making tycoon and a great, benevolent one.
Iris Gonzales’ email address is eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com