John Gokongwei was a Filipino billionaire businessman and philanthropist, best known as the founder and former chairman of JG Summit. He built a massive empire consisting of businesses in sectors such as food, beverage, clothing, aviation, telecommunications, banking, energy, petrochemicals, and livestock farming. Though he belonged to an affluent trading family, he lost all his wealth after his father’s death. Thus, in his teens, he began trading on the streets of Cebu. He launched his first company, Amasia Trading, in 1946. Initially, he dealt in second-hand goods imported from the U.S., but after his family joined in, he started dealing in beverages and cigarettes, too. Eventually, his company launched several businesses, including Universal Corn Products (now Universal Robina Corporation), Consolidated Food Corporation (later CFC Corporation), JG Summit Holdings, Cebu Pacific Air, Digital Telecommunications Philippines, and Robinsons Retail. He also donated to various educational institutes and was the third-richest man in his country at the time of his death. John died in 2019. His businesses are now managed by his six children and his brother, James.