Sy family
Henry Sy Sr., who moved from Xiamen, China, to the Philippines at age 12, opened the first ShoeMart store in October 1958 in Manila's Quiapo district, inspired by American department stores and malls.
How the fortune was built
SM diversified into banking in 1976, acquiring and renaming what became Banco de Oro (BDO), which received a universal banking license in 1996. SM opened SM City North EDSA in 1985 — then the Philippines' largest mall — and formalized its property arm as SM Prime Holdings in 1994, creating the three-pillar structure of retail, property, and banking that defines SM Investments Corporation today.
Where the family invests today
SM Investments Corporation, with a market cap of roughly $15.5 billion, holds SM Prime, BDO Unibank, and China Banking Corporation, with banking contributing roughly half of net income, property about a quarter, and retail nearly a fifth. The group has pushed into renewable energy, raising renewable sourcing to 31% of electricity consumption in 2025 via geothermal and rooftop-solar subsidiaries, while BDO has funded over a trillion pesos in sustainability-linked projects to date.
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