Tycoon Jon Ramon Aboitiz, AEV chair, passes away
Published Nov 30, 2018 02:22 pm
By Myrna Velasco
A pillar of the Aboitiz conglomerate, 70-year old Jon Ramon Melendez Aboitiz, chairman of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV), passed away on Friday morning (November 30), family sources have confirmed.
The Aboitiz patriarch, who is fondly called JRA by company executives and employees or Jon by colleagues in the business, had been very instrumental in growing the various businesses of the group. His net worth, according to Forbes 2018 report, was at US$265 million.
Current AEV Chief Executive Erramon I. Aboitiz confirmed the report of his passing, with him intimating that he is “a big loss for us all.”
Erramon succeeded him as President and CEO of the conglomerate’s power business when it was at its turning point into becoming one of the biggest players in the restructured electricity sector.
There had been reports that Jon Ramon was battling the Big-C prior to his demise, but family members and company executives have not given exact details yet as to the cause of his death as they all appealed for privacy while in their state of mourning.
Public viewing on his remains will be on Sunday (December 2) from 10:00am to 3pm at the Heritage Park in Taguig City, while mass will follow at 3:00pm on that same day. On Monday (December 3), his body will be brought to his home province of Cebu.
Prior to JRA’s passing, the entire Aboitiz group has already ably prepared its next generation to take on leadership positions at their robustly expanding businesses.
The family business vouches of latching on to “meritocracy” or institutionalizing leadership succession giving merits to performance as to whoever would ascend to leadership posts in the conglomerate.
Reported to be advancing into the next batch of leadership at the Aboitiz group will be part of their fourth generation family members, primarily Sabin M. Aboitiz; while the fifth generation Aboitizes have also started taking on paramount C-suite roles in their various business segments.
Jon Ramon’s stint and scale of service to the family business had been as far back as 1970, fresh from completing his Bachelor of Commerce (with major in Management) degree from the University of Santa Clara in Calfiornia.
He first worked with the group’s shipping firm (Aboitiz Shipping Corporation), then moved on to their other business, primarily their power utilities, such as Davao Light & Power Company and Visayan Electric Company – then to the bigger Aboitiz Power Corporation.
When he retired as chief executive of their power business, he took the chairmanship of their holding firm AEV and had also headed the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), a major entity undertaking corporate social responsibility programs of the conglomerate.
The Aboitiz patriarch, who is fondly called JRA by company executives and employees or Jon by colleagues in the business, had been very instrumental in growing the various businesses of the group. His net worth, according to Forbes 2018 report, was at US$265 million.
Current AEV Chief Executive Erramon I. Aboitiz confirmed the report of his passing, with him intimating that he is “a big loss for us all.”
Erramon succeeded him as President and CEO of the conglomerate’s power business when it was at its turning point into becoming one of the biggest players in the restructured electricity sector.
There had been reports that Jon Ramon was battling the Big-C prior to his demise, but family members and company executives have not given exact details yet as to the cause of his death as they all appealed for privacy while in their state of mourning.
Public viewing on his remains will be on Sunday (December 2) from 10:00am to 3pm at the Heritage Park in Taguig City, while mass will follow at 3:00pm on that same day. On Monday (December 3), his body will be brought to his home province of Cebu.
Prior to JRA’s passing, the entire Aboitiz group has already ably prepared its next generation to take on leadership positions at their robustly expanding businesses.
The family business vouches of latching on to “meritocracy” or institutionalizing leadership succession giving merits to performance as to whoever would ascend to leadership posts in the conglomerate.
Reported to be advancing into the next batch of leadership at the Aboitiz group will be part of their fourth generation family members, primarily Sabin M. Aboitiz; while the fifth generation Aboitizes have also started taking on paramount C-suite roles in their various business segments.
Jon Ramon’s stint and scale of service to the family business had been as far back as 1970, fresh from completing his Bachelor of Commerce (with major in Management) degree from the University of Santa Clara in Calfiornia.
He first worked with the group’s shipping firm (Aboitiz Shipping Corporation), then moved on to their other business, primarily their power utilities, such as Davao Light & Power Company and Visayan Electric Company – then to the bigger Aboitiz Power Corporation.
When he retired as chief executive of their power business, he took the chairmanship of their holding firm AEV and had also headed the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), a major entity undertaking corporate social responsibility programs of the conglomerate.