LIST: Business personalities who died in 2012

MANILA, Philippines – As we usher in a new year and bid 2012 goodbye, we remember several personalities in the business world who passed away this year. 

Below are 4 news makers or shapers we bid goodbye to:

1. Salim patriarch

Liem Sioe Liong, the patriarch of the family behind the holding firm that controls corporate giants like Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Philex Mining, passed away on June 10 due to old age. The Indonesian-Chinese industrialist and one of Asia’s richest was 97. He has been compared to Lucio Tan, the Filipino tycoon also with Chinese descent. Their vast empires now both benefited from connections with the power that be. Liem with autocratic Suharto and Tan with dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

KNOW MORE: MVP, First Pacific officials mourn death of Salim patriarch

2. Red Bull co-founder

Chaleo Yoovidhya, a billionaire from Thailand who co-founded the globally popular energy drink Red Bull, died of natural causes on March 17. He was is in his 80’s, ranked by Forbes magazine as the 205th richest man in the world and 3rd richest in Thailand. He partnered with a moneyed Austrian who discovered the powers of the iconic drink as a cure for jet lag. From a fad to an industry, Red Bull was initially popular among truck drivers and other blue-collar workers throughout Thailand.

KNOW MORE: Red Bull billionaire dies

3. Aboitiz matriarch

Ma. Lourdes Mendieta Aboitiz, matriarch of the family that controls some of the country’s largest players in power generation, banking, food and logistics, succumbed to cancer on May 23. The “strong” over-80-year-old Mrs. Aboitiz, just like other women in the closely-knit family headquartered in Cebu, were not allowed to hold positions in various business entities controlled by the men who are perennially included in the list of 40 richest Filipinos. The Aboitizes stand alongside the Zobel de Ayalas, who also have Spanish lineage in Philippine business.

KNOW MORE: Aboitiz matriarch dies

4. 7-Habits author

Stephen Covey, the author of international best-seller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” died on July 16, months after a bicycle accident. The 70-year-old motivational guru sold over 20 million copies of a book considered among the world’s most influential management books every written. From an academician, he become an internationally-renowned author, speaker and consultant. Under the Covey Leadership Center, he also wrote “First Things First,” “Principle-Centered Leadership,” and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families.”

KNOW MORE: Stephen Covey dies at 79 

Who else should be in the list? – Rappler.com