The comeback sagas of MVP, Anthoni Salim & possibly Thaksin

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” Mary Anne Radmacher

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do. Confucius

AKARTA, Indonesia  Forbes magazine has again come out with its top 40 richest Filipinos list this year. It added a few of this writer’s suggestions such as developer Joey Antonio of Century Properties and self-made entrepreneur Jacinto “Jack” Ng of Asia United Bank and Rebisco, but still missing are other tycoons.

US$85 million is this year’s minimum to enter the top 40, and I’m sure these and others have more than that  PLDT/Smart/Meralco/TV5/First Pacific boss Manuel “Manny” V. Pangilinan, the Araneta family of Mar Roxas’s mom, the Ortigas family of Greenhills in San Juan, “Radio King” Fred Elizalde, multinational Oishi snack foods tycoon Carlos Chan, “Tuna King” Ricardo Po Sr. of Century Tuna, the Concepcions of RFM and Concepcion Industries, “Juice King” Alfredo Yao of Zest-O/Zest Air/Philippine Business Bank, Lucio Co of Puregold, Rustans’ Tantoco family, the Madrigal family, boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, et al.  

Our neighbor Indonesia is a country with more tycoons, lots of foreign investors and a vibrant economy. I thank the great hospitality of my Peking University classmates in Indonesia when I went there for the weekend to attend the wedding of classmate Tonny Sutrisno at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Jakarta; it was a beautiful celebration for the ethnic Chinese business community. I was billeted at Indonesia’s excellent Grand Hyatt Hotel Jakarta, which is beside the country’s biggest upscale mall, the Grand Indonesia.  This hotel has one of the best gyms and resort-like pool areas I’ve ever seen anywhere.

Apologies to Dyna/Wea/Universal Records founder and World Lee Association honorary president Dr. James Dy and wife Julieta Dy for missing their 60th wedding anniversary dinner, because my Philippine Airlines flight from Jakarta was delayed. Congratulations!

MVP stages comeback after Asian financial crisis

Not a few of the world’s top businessmen have survived and overcome crises, often staging inspiring comebacks. Manny Pangilinan has come a long way ever since he was an investment banker at American Express Bank in Hong Kong, whose satisfied client, Taiwanese billionaire Chen Yu How of Tuntex Group, referred him to a new client, Indonesia’s Anthoni Salim (the youngest son of 96-year-old immigrant and legendary self-made taipan Soedono Salim or Liem Sioe Liong). Chen personally told this writer this story.

With the backing of the Salim Group, MVP founded Hong Kong-listed First Pacific Group in 1981 and has since built it up as a multinational giant. After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, First Pacific lost control of Fort Bonifacio to the Ayala Group and partner, the Jose Yao Campos family, in 2002. There were even reports that some lower-ranked Western executives of First Pacific were then taking potshots at MVP’s leadership.

Today, MVP is on the crest of the wave of many mega-deals that are breathtaking, impressive and bold. PLDT is also the largest and most profitable business in the Philippines.

For those who doubt whether MVP personally has a lot of money, he recently expressed interest in buying the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings team. If he had pursued that purchase, he said he would have to invest $200 million to $260 million in his personal capacity.

Anthoni Salim’s comeback in Indonesia

Another impressive turnaround guy in Asian big business is 62-year-old Anthoni Salim, whose net worth is now estimated at $8 billion. He’s ranked as Indonesia’s third wealthiest, according to the June issue of Globe Asia business magazine. The British-educated Salim is First Pacific Group’s major shareholder and chairman.

The downfall of President Suharto and social chaos in 1998 caused his father’s house to be destroyed and the elder Salim went overseas, but Anthoni remained in Jakarta to rebuild. The Salim family had to relinquish 90 percent of its then $10 billion empire in exchange for the government’s bailout of their Bank Central Asia (BCA).

In 2004, Anthoni took away the chief executive at their Indofood and he personally took over leadership of the troubled firm. Indofood was nine times oversubscribed when it was publicly listed in 2010. It is the world’s largest instant noodle manufacturer.

Today, the Salim enterprises are flourishing. For example, in the 1998 crisis, the Salim Group lost its sugar business to Gunawan Jusuf’s Sugar Group, but now Salim’s latest venture is a 1.8 trillion rupiah sugar business in Sumatra, which will produce over 400,000 tons per year.

Thaksin Staging ultimate comeback after july 3 election?

Exiled billionaire politician Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra (not an honorary title but an actual doctorate earned in the US) is a colorful personality, whose role in Thai society is legendary as well as controversial. Based on opinion surveys leading up to the July 3 election, his youngest sister, businesswoman Yingluck Shinawatra of the opposition, seems destined to win in Thailand as that nation’s first lady prime minister.

Imagine a situation where a politico has the enthusiastic support of the mass poor, like that of ex-President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, and combine that with the vast economic resources of a Danding Cojuangco plus the business acumen of a Manny Villar  that’s former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin, whose government and allies’ governments were toppled three times in succession either by military coup or court decision after huge electoral victories.

Thaksin made $2 billion in four years, won four elections by stunning landslides and championed what was called “Thaksinomics.” Although he became a tycoon and his telecom firm was the largest in Thailand before he entered politics, foes have accused Thaksin of corruption and greed.

Defenders of Thaksin compare him to Robin Hood, hated by the urban rich but loved by the poor and rural masses. They said, “Thaksin is a strong leader who led us to fast economic growth and social reforms, reducing rural poverty and introducing universal health care.”

In 2006, Thaksin’s foes accused him of conflict of interest, in the case of his family’s selling their Shin Corporation stocks to the Singaporean government for a tax-free amount of 73 billion baht or US$1.88 billion, due to new telecom laws that exempted individuals selling through the stock exchange from capital gains tax.

How rich is Thaksin? Despite the government seizing his wealth in Thailand, the Bangkok tycoons this writer interviewed estimated his overseas fortune at $5 billion to $10 billion. One of Thailand’s top three wealthiest billionaires said that even before Thaksin became prime minister, he already had at least $800 million in overseas wealth.

How daring and bold is Thaksin? In 2007, a year after his coup ouster, the football-loving Thaksin bought Britain’s Premier League club Manchester City for £81.6 million. It was a stroke of genius not only financially but also politically, giving him access to Thai TV coverage plus news in the sports sections of Thai media, which the military junta couldn’t ban because Thai people are passionate about football.

A year later Thaksin sold the Manchester City club to investors from Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited in September 2008 for a reported £200 million, or more than double his original buying price!

Love him or hate him, the charismatic Thaksin Shinawatra is one of Asia’s smartest and most resilient tycoons, who don’t let crises derail their dreams and aspirations.

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