Ernest Cu

With the advocacy of digitalising the nation, Ernest Cu is rooted in the belief that digital connectivity can act as an equaliser in society, granting access to information, services and opportunities irrespective of geographical location. Under his leadership as president and CEO of Globe, Cu has expanded into digital technology to secure its leadership as the top telecommunications company in the country. A remarkable testament to Globe's relentless pursuit of digital excellence is its seven-year sustained leadership in the mobile market revenue. Further cementing this leadership is Globe’s mobile subscriber count at 53.727 million as of July 30, 2023, the highest among telco players and 1.2 million higher than the nearest competitor.

GCash, its flagship product in the financial technology category, is a phenomenally successful mobile wallet now used by roughly 80 per cent of the Filipino population. Globe is also behind the corporate incubator 917Ventures, the country’s most prominent corporate venture builder that has pioneered tech solutions companies like Konsulta MD, HealthNow, KodeGo and EdVenture, to name a few. In August 2023, GCash also announced that it had gained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to publicly launch its online trading services, GStocks PH, through a partnership with AB Capital Securities Inc.

With non-telco revenues doubling since 2021, Cu plans on sustaining that growth with increased investments. “I want to build a better future by empowering Filipino entrepreneurs, content creators and artists,” he said, “which could also mean helping a portfolio company become the Philippines’ next unicorn or launching a ground-breaking digital solution.”

In 2024, Globe Telecom expanded its network to over 500 geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in the Philippines, investing over PhP 265 billion in capital expenditures and PhP 236 billion in operational expenses and connecting thousands of people to the digitised world.