The businesswoman, 74, serves as the vice-chairperson of SM Investments, the Philippines’ largest conglomerate by market value, which was founded by her late father Henry Sy Sr.
Now led by the Sy siblings, the founder’s six children, the group owns several of the country’s top businesses, including retail lender BDO Unibank, which Sy-Coson also chairs, and property giant SM Prime Holdings.
It began as a small shoe shop in Manila and grew into a giant whose revenues amounted to PHP654.8 billion (US$11.4 billion) last year.
The siblings together topped Forbes’ 2024 Philippine rich list with a combined net worth of US$13 billion.
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Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairperson of SM Investments and the Philippines’ richest woman. Photo from Teresita Sy-Coson’s Facebook |
Raised by a father and a maternal grandfather who both ran shoe stores, Sy-Coson developed an interest in selling footwear as early as eight years old.
“I was just born into a business family. It is really a destiny,” she said.
She was the first among her siblings to dive into the family business, starting at the first ShoeMart store.
Her father brought her on board after she earned a commerce degree in 1970.
“He told me, ‘Come work with me; it’s the school of hard knocks,’” she recalled in a 2012 interview with Forbes, adding that she had planned to pursue a master’s degree before that.
He later entrusted a then 22-year-old Sy-Coson with opening his first department store in Manila in 1972. She told him she could handle the task.
“You don’t know how to be scared when young. You have all the confidence,” she said.
As Sy-Coson advanced in her career, the family business expanded as well, opening its first shopping mall, SM North EDSA, in Quezon in 1985, the Daily Tribune reported.
In 1990, she was appointed president of SM Department Stores, now part of SM Retail. The business grew significantly, with its store count increasing fourfold to 42 by the time she stepped down in 2010.
During the 1990s, she also focused on Banco de Oro (BDO), the family’s banking arm, which was the country’s 13th largest lender by assets at the time.
Building on her experience in retail, she applied the same approach to banking, prioritizing efficiency and consumers’ needs—principles that echoed her father’s business philosophy.
She steered the bank toward a broader market, extending banking hours, placing branches inside malls, and catering to smaller businesses, breaking away from the industry norm of primarily serving the wealthy.
Under her leadership, BDO emerged as the Philippines’ largest bank by total assets by 2008. It now boasts a network of over 1,700 branches and more than 5,800 ATMs nationwide, according to its official website.
Today, Sy-Coson is widely regarded as one of the country’s most respected and influential businesswomen.
While she recognized the privilege of being the daughter of a billionaire entrepreneur, she was committed to proving her worth through hard work, ensuring her achievements were seen as earned rather than inherited.
She has also shared that, to compete in the male-dominated business world, she has to adapt, both in appearance and demeanor. A dark suit and white shirt became her signature attire.
“I realized early on that in business, it’s a man’s world,” she noted. “I thought, ‘I’m not going to be different from them.’”
The growth of the family business, she said, did not hinge on her alone, noting that all her siblings play a role.
Sy-Coson and her five siblings would gather for lunch every Tuesday to discuss the future of the conglomerate, according to a 2014 report by Bloomberg.
“I can say we work together very well,” Sy-Coson said.
She believes success comes from working with the right people, whether family or professionals, emphasizing that no one can accomplish everything alone.
Her management style, as described by Lydia C. King, former first vice president for technology at BDO, is democratic, valuing open discussions and insights from officers when it comes to decision-making.
“In everything, you cannot do things alone,” Sy-Coson said at a meeting with young Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs last year, as quoted by PhilStar.
Also at the event, she reflected on her father’s influence on her and her siblings’ work ethic.
“Our father Henry Sy taught us to be hardworking, to make the most of opportunities, to be the best in our chosen fields,” she noted, adding that they all felt the pressure as he was very demanding.
Nonetheless, she said: “The best mentor is pressure.”
