Notes on the beat: Gen Zs emerging as heirs to MVP Group

MANILA, Philippines — Gen Zs are stepping up as the apparent heirs to the thrones at the MVP Group of Companies, with the big boss himself – business titan Manuel V. Pangilinan – acknowledging that they are the ones who are next in line.

Pangilinan has noted that there are indeed succession issues in the group, which includes industry giants PLDT, Manila Electric Co. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.

At 79, Pangilinan is currently the chairman and CEO of all these three big companies, and also chairs several other companies within the group.

But the man they call “MVP” still has plenty of firepower left, and hanging up his jersey could still be far down the line.

“I’m still alive, right, after 10 years? Why do you think we bought hospitals? Their mission is to invent a potion,” Pangilinan said in jest during the 57th FINEX Annual Conference last Friday.

Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Health is the country’s largest private hospital group, with 28 hospitals currently in its portfolio.

“Anyway, it’s in front of my face,” Pangilinan said when asked about how succession planning is coming along for his group.

He said that a team has been organized to look into  succession issues within his business empire.

“It is a very severe issue for us and I know that. So that’s why there’s a big effort by the group to identify, already all the way down to the college  level, who could be the next CEOs,” Pangilinan said.

“They’re looking at the full suite of, up to the fourth down from my level, from the CEO level. The one downs, the two downs, the three downs, down to the fourth downs who are still in college,” he said.

Pangilinan added: “We have to look at that and especially Gen Zs. So most likely the next, well, very likely the next CEO of Meralco, PLDT, etc., or any company for that matter in the world, will probably come from the ranks of the Gen Zs. So we have been talking to Gen Zs, trying to understand them.”

Pangilinan described Gen Zs, born approximately between 1997 and 2012, as a generation that is “very mobile” and “very fluid.” He also previously referred to them as representing “a new breed of wolves” who are disruptive.

“They’re just different. So we need to understand that. And this new generation of kids are most likely products of the internet and to harness that kind of values and attitude they have, different from ours, will change this nation to the nation of innovators and transformers, right?” Pangilinan said.

The tycoon earlier acknowledged that “even the finest old compasses must one day allow younger hands to steer the ship,” admitting that leadership is not a chair to sit on forever, but a torch to pass on.

“Succession is not merely about finding replacements and nurturing them for the future, but is about creating space for growth, about recognizing when our wisdom must give way to their energy, when our experience must make room for their ingenuity,” Pangilinan said.

The future may be looking bright for the MVP Group, but Pangilinan’s successors will certainly have very big shoes to fill.