As chairman of the Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI), Dr Andrew L Tan is one of the most admired entrepreneurs in the Philippines. He built Megaworld Corporation, a humble start-up founded in 1989. Multiple coup d’états and the Asian financial crisis marked the first decade of his business. Yet, it has become the country’s number one residential and office condominium developer, while its founder is now one of the Philippines’ top billionaires.

Tan was born to Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong. His father worked as a radio factory worker, and his mother was a street vendor. He took odd jobs from high school through college to make ends meet. After acquiring his university degree in accounting, he entered the labour force. All these years of hard work and discipline allowed him to pursue his ambitions, and obstacles and disappointments didn’t dissuade him from moving forward.

After gaining experience as a developer of condominiums, Tan went on to pioneer township development in the late ’90s with his proven Live-Work-Play-Learn lifestyle formula. Some of Megaworld’s successful actions include Newport City, known as the country’s first cyber tourism zone, and the affluent and lively McKinley Hill.

The Covid-19 pandemic hardly slowed the billionaire. In October 2022, he opened the Torre Caleido Shopping Centre, one of the most modern skyscrapers in Madrid, Spain. AGI also acquired a PHP38.6 billion revenue the same year, exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 levels by ten per cent.

In 2023, Megaworld aims to launch the PHP1.8-billion Maple Park Residences, its third residential condominium development in its 140-hectare Maple Grove township in General Trias, Cavite. Over the next five years, the corporation is investing PHP350 billion to build townships in the Philippines. By providing residential, office, shopping mall and hotel components in the townships, it hopes to revive tou