MANILA, Philippines – Keeping the business in the family seems top of mind for Filipino billionaire Lucio Tan. And it’s looking like the 88-year-old tycoon – who oversees an estimated fortune of $2.4 billion – already has a successor in mind: his millennial grandson, Lucio “Hun Hun” Tan III.

Hun Hun has begun to assume key positions in the Tan family’s sprawling business empire, which has interests in liquor, non-alcoholic drinks, tobacco, real estate, aviation, and banking. In the month of May alone, Hun Hun was appointed president of the LT Group (LTG) and PAL Holdings (PHI). He took over the presidency of LTG from Michael Tan, Lucio’s eldest son with his second wife, while the PHI presidency was passed down to him from his grandfather.

Leading up to these big roles, the 30-year-old has been easing into the leadership by taking on various positions in the conglomerate’s companies. Here are among the positions he’s held earlier this year:

• Director, president and chief operating officer of Tanduay Distillers Inc.
• Vice chairman and president of Sabre Travel Network Philippines Inc.
• Vice president and director of PAL Holdings Inc.
• Vice president of Dunmore Development Corporation
• Director of Ali-Eton Property Development Corporation, Air Philippines Corporation, Allied Club, Inc., Allied Water Services Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corporation, Belton Communities Inc., Eton City Inc., First Homes Inc., Fortune Landequities and Resources Inc., Lufthansa Technik Philippines, MacroAsia Airport Services Corporation, MacroAsia Corporation, MacroAsia Catering Services Inc., MacroAsia SATS Food Industries, MacroAsia SATS Inflight Services Corporation, PMFTC Inc., Philippine Airlines Inc., PNB Holdings Corporation, Philippine National Bank, and Prior Holdings Corporation.

Before tending to the family business, Hun Hun spent much of his life in the United States, where he graduated summa cum laude from Stanford University in 2015 with a degree in electrical engineering. He later took a master’s degree in computer science in the same university.

He had experience interning with Cisco, Apple, and Facebook before joining Lyft as a software engineer. His time in the US tech scene was then cut short when he returned to the Philippines after the untimely death of his father, Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., then-president of PAL Holdings and presumed heir to the Tan empire.

The death of the patriarch’s eldest son left a void that was soon filled by Bong’s own son. Hun Hun quickly rose to power as director of LTG, MacroAsia Corporation, PHI, PAL and Air Philippines Corporation.

Hun Hun hasn’t quite taken over the empire just yet. His grandfather still sits as the chairman and chief executive officer of LTG and PHI. But more pressingly, his assumption of the presidency comes at a time when he is expected to steer the conglomerate’s post-pandemic recovery. This has proven to be especially challenging for PAL as the aviation industry continues to grapple with the pandemic’s effect on air travel. Still, the young Tan seems undeterred.

“As in the past years that we were able to overcome the challenges of the pandemic, my commitment remains in delivering consistent results and prioritizing the profitability of every company in our portfolio,” he said during an annual LTG stockholder’s meeting. – Rappler.com

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