John Gokongwei, Jr. (born 1927 in Cebu City) is a Filipino businessman with holdings in telecom, financial services, petrochemicals, power, and even hog farming. In 2005, he was listed by Forbes as the 34th richest person in Southeast Asia, with a fortune of US$425 million. Some say that the forbes estimate of Mr.gokongwei's fortune is very low, considering his large business portfolio. He is the chairman of JG Summit holdings one of the philippines largest conglomerates. Some estimates his fortune at a very conservative $4.5 billion well above the $425 million that forbes estimates. In 2005 his company had spent $700 million of internally generated funds for buying new aircrafts for his Cebu Pacific Airlines, the philippines 2nd largest carrier. From 2003 up to the present his telecom arm DIGITEL TELECOMMUNICATION has spent nearly $800 million for its mobile unit Sun Cellular which is now the philippines 3rd largest mobile operator. He is in talks right now for his possible $1 billion takeover of UIC a property giant from singapore which he owns more than 30% already. UIC controls Singapore Land one of the biggest property landlord in singapore. Mr.Gokongwei also owns UNIVERSAL ROBINA CORPORATION the philippines largest manufacturer of snacks and the maker of the very succesful c2 green tea drink in the country. He also controls Robinsons Land one of the biggest property concerns in the philippines that operates the [[Robinsons malls}}. Cebu City is the capital of Cebu Province in the Philippines and is the second most important metropolitan center in the country. ... A businessman (sometimes businesswoman, female; or businessperson, gender neutral) is a generic term for a wide range of people engaged in profit-oriented enterprises, generally the management of a company. ... Disambiguation: For the Boston Brahmin family of John Forbes Kerry, see Forbes family. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Sun Cellular is a cellular service providers in the Philippines. ... UIC may refer to: University of Illinois at Chicago Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (translation: International Union of Railways) UEFA_Intertoto_Cup This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... UIC may refer to: University of Illinois at Chicago Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (translation: International Union of Railways) UEFA_Intertoto_Cup This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... C2 (protocol), a file transfer protocol C2 (radio), a Welsh language music show on BBC Radio Cymru C2 explosive, a form of plastic explosive C2 ISO 216 international standard paper size (458×648 mm) C2 NRS social grade, United Kingdom skilled working class Citroën C2, a car produced by...

He was born into a wealthy Cebu-based family, originally from China's Fujian province. The family fortune was lost when his affluent father died. He started his business career during World War II, buying and selling rice, cloth and scrap metal. He is married, and has six children. His eldest son Lance Gokongwei is now in charge of the gokongwei empire serving as PRESIDENT and CEO while his father serves as Chairman Emeritus. Cebu is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. ... Fujian (Chinese: 福建; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Fu-chien; Postal System Pinyin: Fukien, Foukien; local transliteration Hokkien from Min Nan Hok-kiàn) is one of the provinces on the southeast coast of China. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II...

External links

• Forbes.com - Southeast Asia's Richest - John Gokongwei