Eugenio "Geny" Lopez, Jr., patriarch of one of the most powerful Philippine families, who rebuilt and expanded his family's business empire after it had been torn apart by dictator Ferdinand Marcos, died Tuesday in his Hillsborough home.
He was 70. The cause of death was cancer.
The remains of Mr. Lopez, widely regarded as one of the most powerful and influential Philippine businessmen, will be flown to Manila for a public funeral Tuesday.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada said he was deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Lopez, who was to have stood as a principal sponsor of the wedding of Estrada's daughter to one of Mr. Lopez's nephew Sept. 8 at the Manila cathedral.
The riches-to-rags-to super riches saga of Geny Lopez is the stuff of legends in the Philippines.
Jailed in 1972 by Marcos, Mr. Lopez and Sen. Sergio Osmena made a daring escape from Fort Bonifacio prison after five years, then made their way to the United States, where they led and inspired the opposition that toppled Marcos in 1986.
Upon returning to his native country, changed in many ways by his experiences in exile, Mr. Lopez reclaimed and revitalized his family's plundered properties and ventured into new business fields.
In a 1997 book commissioned by De La Salle University of the Philippines, Mr. Lopez was described as "a billionaire with perhaps the most far reaching influence in Philippine society, being the leader in strategic industries, such as electric power generation and distribution, broadcasting and cable, film making, toll expressway, water services, telecommunications, real estate and banking."
The Lopez family's holdings include ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation - the Philippines' largest radio and television broadcasting network; Benpres Holdings Corporation, the family flagship; Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the nation's largest public utility; and First Philippine Holdings Corporation, an investment and management firm.
Mr. Lopez studied in San Beda, Ateneo de Manila University, received his B.A. from Virginia Military Institute and an MBA from the Harvard School of Business.
His family traces its roots to the 19th century Chinese-mestizo landowner Don Basilio Lopez on the island of Ilolo, who became wealthy as a sugar planter and miller.
Mr. Lopez's father Don Eugenio "Ening" Lopez was considered the richest Filipino of his day, with an estimated net worth of $300 million. He bankrolled the presidential bid of Ferdinand Marcos in 1965.
But in the 1970s, the Lopezes and Marcoses became enemies, with the former turning their newspaper, the Manila Chronicle, into Marcos' fiercest critic.
Marcos, in retaliation, denounced the Lopezes as oligarchs, imposed martial law in 1972, and imprisoned Geny Lopez.
While in exile in the United States, Mr. Lopez ran a small export-import business.
It was the vicissitudes he and his family experienced in exile that reshaped his business philosophy into one emphasizing public service and his political philosophy - and also changed his playboy image, Mr. Lopez often told friends.
When he returned to the Philippines after Marcos was deposed, Mr. Lopez found his family's enterprises in shambles, but, together with brothers Oscar and Manuel, he rebuilt them, starting with ABS-CBN, which vaulted from last place to first among his country's broadcast networks.
Mr. Lopez also reclaimed and revived the Manila Chronicle. Vergel O. Santos, the paper's executive editor, said that Mr. Lopez was an ideal boss.
" "Run the paper as you like. I will not get in the way,' he told me. "All I ask is that if you have bad news about me or my family or our businesses, print our side in it.' In other words, he asked for no more than any other news subject deserves and each time his word was tested it proved good," Santos said in an article published Tuesday in the Philippines' Business World.
Santos also noted that when Mr. Lopez's father was alive, the family used "their king-making powers" as publishers of the Chronicle to unseat then-President Diosdado Macapagal and install Marcos in his place. But when Mr. Lopez returned from exile, he was a changed man.
"The deal I got from him was as plain as it was ideal," he said. "I could not have asked for more."
The Chronicle was sold in 1993 and has since ceased publication.
Mr. Lopez is survived by seven children, Eugenio III, Regina Paz, Rosario, Ernesto, Ramon and Roberta, all of the Philippines, and Rafael, who lives in the Bay Area.
He was 70. The cause of death was cancer.
The remains of Mr. Lopez, widely regarded as one of the most powerful and influential Philippine businessmen, will be flown to Manila for a public funeral Tuesday.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada said he was deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Lopez, who was to have stood as a principal sponsor of the wedding of Estrada's daughter to one of Mr. Lopez's nephew Sept. 8 at the Manila cathedral.
The riches-to-rags-to super riches saga of Geny Lopez is the stuff of legends in the Philippines.
Jailed in 1972 by Marcos, Mr. Lopez and Sen. Sergio Osmena made a daring escape from Fort Bonifacio prison after five years, then made their way to the United States, where they led and inspired the opposition that toppled Marcos in 1986.
Upon returning to his native country, changed in many ways by his experiences in exile, Mr. Lopez reclaimed and revitalized his family's plundered properties and ventured into new business fields.
In a 1997 book commissioned by De La Salle University of the Philippines, Mr. Lopez was described as "a billionaire with perhaps the most far reaching influence in Philippine society, being the leader in strategic industries, such as electric power generation and distribution, broadcasting and cable, film making, toll expressway, water services, telecommunications, real estate and banking."
The Lopez family's holdings include ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation - the Philippines' largest radio and television broadcasting network; Benpres Holdings Corporation, the family flagship; Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the nation's largest public utility; and First Philippine Holdings Corporation, an investment and management firm.
Mr. Lopez studied in San Beda, Ateneo de Manila University, received his B.A. from Virginia Military Institute and an MBA from the Harvard School of Business.
His family traces its roots to the 19th century Chinese-mestizo landowner Don Basilio Lopez on the island of Ilolo, who became wealthy as a sugar planter and miller.
Mr. Lopez's father Don Eugenio "Ening" Lopez was considered the richest Filipino of his day, with an estimated net worth of $300 million. He bankrolled the presidential bid of Ferdinand Marcos in 1965.
But in the 1970s, the Lopezes and Marcoses became enemies, with the former turning their newspaper, the Manila Chronicle, into Marcos' fiercest critic.
Marcos, in retaliation, denounced the Lopezes as oligarchs, imposed martial law in 1972, and imprisoned Geny Lopez.
While in exile in the United States, Mr. Lopez ran a small export-import business.
It was the vicissitudes he and his family experienced in exile that reshaped his business philosophy into one emphasizing public service and his political philosophy - and also changed his playboy image, Mr. Lopez often told friends.
When he returned to the Philippines after Marcos was deposed, Mr. Lopez found his family's enterprises in shambles, but, together with brothers Oscar and Manuel, he rebuilt them, starting with ABS-CBN, which vaulted from last place to first among his country's broadcast networks.
Mr. Lopez also reclaimed and revived the Manila Chronicle. Vergel O. Santos, the paper's executive editor, said that Mr. Lopez was an ideal boss.
" "Run the paper as you like. I will not get in the way,' he told me. "All I ask is that if you have bad news about me or my family or our businesses, print our side in it.' In other words, he asked for no more than any other news subject deserves and each time his word was tested it proved good," Santos said in an article published Tuesday in the Philippines' Business World.
Santos also noted that when Mr. Lopez's father was alive, the family used "their king-making powers" as publishers of the Chronicle to unseat then-President Diosdado Macapagal and install Marcos in his place. But when Mr. Lopez returned from exile, he was a changed man.
"The deal I got from him was as plain as it was ideal," he said. "I could not have asked for more."
The Chronicle was sold in 1993 and has since ceased publication.
Mr. Lopez is survived by seven children, Eugenio III, Regina Paz, Rosario, Ernesto, Ramon and Roberta, all of the Philippines, and Rafael, who lives in the Bay Area.
