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RIP Richest Shopping Mall Tycoon of Philippines:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/philippines--richest-man-sy-dies-at-94-11143568

Philippines' richest man Sy dies at 94

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19 Jan 2019 02:25PM

MANILA: The Philippines' wealthiest man Henry Sy, who rose from being a penniless Chinese immigrant to leading a multi-billion dollar business empire, died on Saturday (Jan 19), his conglomerate has announced.

The 94-year-old, from the Chinese city of Xiamen, made his fortune with a Philippine shopping centre conglomerate that has put up some of the largest malls in the world.


However his holdings also included banks, hotels and real estate in the Philippines, as well as shopping centres in China.

He had a net worth of US$19 billion as of Friday, according to Forbes.com.

Forbes said he was the 52nd richest person in the world last year, beating out bold name tycoons like Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch and George Soros.

"Henry Sy... passed away peacefully in his sleep early Saturday morning. There are no further details at the moment," his SM group said in a statement to AFP.



Sy put up his first shoe store in downtown Manila in 1956, a business which later grew into a diversified empire.

He stepped down as chairman of his holding firm in 2017, assuming the title of "chairman emeritus" and leaving trusted allies as well as his children in charge of his empire.

It was a long journey for a man who came to the Philippines as a boy to work in his immigrant father's variety store.

"Our store was so small it had no back or second floor, we just slept on the counter late at night after the store was closed," he told the Philippine Star newspaper in 2006.

SHOE STORE TO SUPERMALLS

After their shop was destroyed during World War II, Sy's father returned to China but Henry chose to stay in the Philippines.

He got a commerce degree from a Manila university and started selling shoes in a shop which would later grow into a chain named "ShoeMart".

By 1972, his shops had branched out into selling all manner of goods, prompting the name to be changed to SM Department Store.

But it was in 1985 that Sy made history when he opened his first "Supermall" in Manila.

Spanning over 424,000 square metres (4.6 million square feet), the mall included dozens of stores, numerous cinemas, restaurants, banks and other attractions that made it a one-stop shop for millions of Filipinos.

This was just the start, as more of Sy's mammoth malls popped up across the country, some even containing ice skating rinks, a rarity in the tropical country.

Sy helped create mall culture in the Philippines, where steamy temperatures and the regular threat of torrential downpours can make outdoor shopping uncomfortable.

Sy's holding company, SM Investments Corp. opened its first mall in China in 2001 and has been expanding there as well.

By 2018, SM said it had 70 malls in the Philippines and seven in China as well as six hotels and eight office buildings.

Sy's empire has earned its share of criticism from labour groups, who say it uses thousands of contractual hires to avoid paying higher wages and benefits that permanent workers are entitled to.

SM officials have insisted that they do not engage in so-called "contractualisation", but say they hire "seasonal" workers for peak periods like Christmas, back-to-school and even weekends.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/robert...richest-man-henry-sy-dies-at-94/#66b1b13e5f34

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Henry Sy, chairman emeritus of SM Investments, one of the Philippines' largest conglomerates, died Saturday morning, according to a statement from SM.

Sy had topped the Philippine Rich List for eleven years in a row. His net worth was estimated at $19 billion at the time of his passing, making him the 53rd wealthiest person in the world.

The 94-year-old former immigrant from China had built a vast business empire that spans retail, real estate and banking. Sy’s family-owned SM Investments is the holding company for SM Retail, the country’s largest chain of department stores and supermarkets, SM Prime, the country’s largest shopping mall operator, as well as BDO Unibank.

Born in 1924 in Fujian province, he went to the Philippines at the age of 12 and got his start in the retail business by selling goods in his father’s neighborhood store. After saving enough money, Sy started his first business with a footwear shop called ShoeMart in 1958.



Over the following six decades, ShoeMart grew and evolved, so the brand name was changed to simply "SM." Sy opened his first department store in 1972. The 20,000-square-meter space was considered large at the time, and it was run by his then 22-year-old daughter Teresita Sy-Coson.

Sy has also been credited with helping to spur the “malling culture” in the Philippines, where the country’s tropical climate often makes shopping outdoors an uncomfortable experience. SM Prime now operates 70 malls in the Philippines and another seven in China.


He first expanded into property development in 1974. Today, the conglomerate boasts a real estate portfolio of 49 residential projects, 6 hotels and 9 office buildings.

In 1976, Sy bought Acme Savings Bank, which had originally been set up as a thrift bank, and renamed it Banco do Oro Savings and Mortgage Bank. In 1996, it became a universal bank and the name was changed to the current Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO Unibank).

Sy stepped down as chairman of his holding firm in 2017, assuming the title of "chairman emeritus" and leaving his children and trusted executive leadership team at the helm.
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Late to post but I just heard story that helped me heal a lot and still RIP to my great uncle.

He was in hospital for flu very ill at 91.

his family was around non stop esp his wife and daughter. He told them things are good go have lunch. So they did so, he took his oxygen off, machines went off a nurse came in and said "mr X you need to put the air back on" he said nah I'm about to die any way.. and those were his last words.

He passed a while ago but I just heard the story and well, it made me laugh to hear he went out matching his personality.
 
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RIP Albert Finney

www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47175304

Actor Albert Finney died this morning, age 82, after a short illness.

Probably best known as Daddy Warbucks from 1982's ANNIE and playing the title character in 1970's SCROOGE film, as well as roles in 1974's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, BIG FISH, THE GATHERING STORM and ERIN BROCKOVICH.
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