Archive for the ‘Success Stories’ Category
Billionaire from Philippines: Henry Sy
Henry Sy
Name: Henry Sy & family
Net Worth:$2.7 bil
Fortune:self made
Source:malls
Age:84
Country Of Citizenship:Philippines
Residence:Manila
Industry:Diversified
Education:NA,
Marital Status:married, 6 children
The richest man in the Philippines arrived there at age 13 from China to help out at father’s small convenience store. Saved to start a small shoe store in Manila and built it into one of the country’s largest retailers. Now controls the Philippines’ largest shopping mall developer, SM Prime Holdings, which opened its 31st mall last year, run by son Hans Sy; country’s largest bank, Banco de Oro Unibank, run by daughter Teresita Sy-Coson. Shares fortune, which includes stakes in a dozen companies with wife and children. Last year bought a 60% stake in Manila’s National University for an undisclosed sum. In December family’s SM Investment Corp. announced plans to start building casinos in Manila.
Rags to Riches Billionaire Story # 4
Sheldon Adelson
Net worth: $26 billion
Sheldon Adelson
The son of a Boston cabdriver, he borrowed $200 from an uncle to sell newspapers at age 12. Later, he dropped out of college to become a court reporter. Now a casino and hotel magnate, Adelson took his Las Vegas Sands public in December 2004.
He worked at a young age selling newspapers on local street corners and owned his first business by the time he was twelve. In the years that followed, he worked as a mortgage broker, investment adviser and financial consultant. He started a business selling toiletry kits, and in the 1960s he started a charter tours business with two friends. He went to college at City College of New York but did not complete a degree there.
The basis for Adelson’s wealth and current investments was the computer trade show COMDEX, which he and his partners developed for the computer industry; the first show was in 1979. It was the premier computer trade show through much of the 1980s and 1990s.
In 1988, Adelson and his partners purchased the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, the former hangout of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, in order to bring Las Vegas to a new phase of business centricity through the exhibition industry.
How LinkedIn’s founder got started
Reid Hoffman talks about his path from academia to social media.
My dad wouldn’t let me have a computer because he didn’t think it was relevant. I was in college before I actually got one. I think if he knew then what he knows now, I would have had one much earlier.
But I’ve always had an interest in how we improve people’s ecosystems — whether it’s civics or education or economics. When I was an undergrad at Stanford, I thought the way to do that was to be an academic. Then I saw that wasn’t the right way, because you become a scholar and publish in an area where only, like, 50 people will read it.
Find ways to reach people.
How do you change lives for millions of people? At Oxford [as a graduate student in philosophy] I decided software entrepreneurship was the way.
linkedin.com
I came back to Silicon Valley and worked for Apple and then Fujitsu before starting Socialnet, an early social-networking site. After a while I didn’t agree with the direction it was going, so I talked to Peter [Thiel, co-founder of PayPal], whom I knew from Stanford. He said, “Come join us. Help us at PayPal.”
Improve users’ lives.
What I realized before PayPal was sold was that there was going to be a confluence of two forces.
One was how the world of work is changing — every individual is now somewhat entrepreneurial. They’re getting the next gig themselves.
The other was the Internet, which could empower all these individuals to establish profiles online so that people can find them. You’d be able to use your network to get access to people to better chart your path.
I started LinkedIn because changing people’s professional lives is a massive transformation. In 2003 we got financing from Sequoia Capital, and we started to get more and more people into our service. Everyone began to realize the value. That’s when I was, like, “This could work.”
Secrets of my success
• It’s okay to be brief
When people ask me about work/life balance, I just laugh. But I try to be time-efficient by scheduling meetings in appropriate increments –15 minutes or less sometimes. I’ve also tried to build a culture that understands writing brief e-mails is not emotional coldness.
• Be willing to change course
Entrepreneurs tend to believe, “I’ve got my idea, I’ll go until I die.” But I advise them to take seriously the questions about whether their [business] plan is irredeemably flawed and whether they need to change what they’re doing. Be diligent about failing fast so that you don’t spend five years doing something that’s just going to fail.
• Don’t be a perfectionist
I frequently tell Internet entrepreneurs, “If you’re not somewhat embarrassed by your 1.0 product launch, then you’ve released too late.” There’s value in launching early, getting engaged with customers, and learning from them. That can direct your progress.
They’re hiring! Despite Global Economic Crisis
As many big companies are announcing mass layoffs, these Fortune 100 employers have at least 150 openings as of mid-April.
Wal-Mart Stores – Thousands
Hewlett-Packard – 150
Bank of America Corp. – 1,860
State Farm Insurance Cos. – 800+
WellPoint – 1,225
Boeing – 2,400
Microsoft - 630
MetLife - 1,000+
United Parcel Service – 3,070
Medco Health Solutions – 300+
Lowe’s – 7,900
Time Warner – 480
Sears Holdings – 500+
Supervalu – 180+
Johnson Controls – 750
GMAC – 750
Comcast – 1,000
Northrop Grumman – 3,700
Coca-Cola – 160
New York Life Insurance – 3,640
Aetna – 550
Motorola – 520
Abbott Laboratories – 260*
General Dynamics – 2,365
Prudential Financial – 235
Humana – 265*
Liberty Mutual Insurance Group – 500+
HCA – 9,000
