Henry Sy

Henry Sy, Sr. (|p=Shī Zhìchéng|poj=Si Chì-sêng}}; born December 25, 1924) is a Chinese Filipino businessman with interests in retailing, real estate, hospitality, banking, mining, education including healthcare services. He pioneered the establishment of SM Malls, anchored by Shoemart Department Store and Supermarket earning him the title, the Philippines' Retail King. He is the chairman of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the holding corporation for all his business interests in his vast business empire. In 2011, Forbes Magazine listed him as the richest man in the Philippines.

He has six children.

Early life
Henry Sy was born to a poor family in Xiamen, China on November 01, 1924. He is the son of Henry H. Sy and Tan O Sia. He immigrated to the Philippines and got his start by selling rejected and overrun shoes from Tondo.

He completed his secondary education in a school now known as Chiang Kai Shek College and earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950.

Career
In 1958, Sy established a small shoe store in Quiapo, Manila that marked the establishment of SM Prime Holdings. In November 1972, the small shoe store became SM Quiapo, SM's first standalone department store.

On December 25, 1985, he established his first SM Supermall, SM City North EDSA.

He is the Philippines' richest man, gaining $5 billion in 2010, amid the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments Corporation, which has interests in Banco de Oro, inter alia. Forbes magazine's 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy family's net worth was $6.2 billion. Earlier, he was the second wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan, and (as of 2010) 201st in the world.

Sy is considered a tai-pan. The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro and owner of Chinabank. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines third largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, and merged it with Banco de Oro in 2007. The merger created the Philippines' second largest financial institution with resources of close to $17 billion. Rumors say that the Sy family has a personal stake of $4 billion in these three banks, although there is no sufficient evidence to strongly substantiate that.

Source @ Wikipedia