Lucio C. Tan, Sr. was born on 17 July 1933, on Amoy island, Fukian, China, of part-Filipino descent. He is a businessman and educator, known for being one of the richest people in the Philippines. He holds interests in various sectors, such as education, liquor, banking, and real estate. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Lucio Tan? As of mid-2017, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $4.1 billion, earned through his numerous investments – he also holds interests in airlines and tobacco. With his wealth also come numerous controversies. Despite that, all of his achievements have ensured the position of his wealth.
Lucio Tan Net Worth $4.1 billion
At a young age, Lucio moved to the Philippines. He attended Far Eastern University and studied Chemical Engineering. During his time at school, he had to work as a janitor at a tobacco factory to help pay for his education.
After graduating, he started working on gaining numerous investments. Though few details are known about his rise towards wealth, he was able to start gaining business interests. These include LT Group, Inc. which is his publicly listed holding company. Some of the companies under LT Group include liquor companies Asia Brewery and Tanduay Distillers. He also holds Fortune Tobacco Corporation, the Philippine National Bank, Victorias Milling Company, and Eton Properties Philippines. Tan has interests in the airline company Philippine Airlines too, and MacroAsia Corporation which does airport services, catering services, and mining. Other interests he has include Century Park Hotel, Lucky Travel Corporation, stock brokerage firm Pan Asia Securities, University of the East, and The Charter House hotel.
With his wealth comes a lot of controversy. In 1997, an article published by Forbes reported on the corruption within the Philippines and how Tan held up a tax reform to remove special privileges for local beer producers and tobacco producers. The following year, it was reported that he consistently clashed with the government on charges of tax evasion. Economics professor Solita Monsod also reported via the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism that Lucio pays courts to get judges to decide in his favor. He’s also good at getting good lawyers to delay cases. Several of his assets were taken by the Presidential Commission on Good Government in 1987, but they were eventually restored in 2006, after the anti-graft court nullified the acquisition stating that the charges had no basis. There was originally a 51 billion peso lawsuit but the PCGG eventually withdrew from the case in 2009. Despite the charges being dropped, there are still a lot of questions on several of Tan’s companies, with some reportedly being given to him in trust during the Marcos presidency in the Philippines. An article also stated that the judges who ruled in favor of Tan in his case were important in lowering the charges against his company.
For his personal life, it is known that Lucio is married and has six children. His son Michael Tan works with Asia Brewery Inc. Another son Lucio Tan Jr. heads Eton Properties Inc. His daughter Vivienne Tan has also ventured into business.
