CORPORATIONS: King of the Islands

In Manila’s block-long Soriano Building, the employees have a saying: “Pick up any piece of paper with writing on it from any drawer or table, and you’ll find Soriano’s initials on it.” Don Andres Soriano not only leaves his mark on a mountain of paper work, but keeps a thumb on just about everything that moves in the Philippines. He is the islands’ best-known businessman, biggest philanthropist, runs an industrial empire which provides the livelihood for 80,000 Filipino families. His enterprises’ taxes (close to $30 million a year) make up 10% of the government’s total tax revenue. His fortune is estimated as high as $30 million.

This week Don Andres Soriano, 53, had some good news about one of his biggest enterprises: Philippine Air Lines, which he runs as junior partner (28% owner) with the government (52%). Deep in the red two years ago, P.A.L. broke into the black last year with a $350,000 profit, this year chalked up a first-half net of $636,000, 33 times as much as in the same 1950 period. Next to giant Pan Am, it is now the most profitable international airline in the world. It has 43 planes, routes from Manila over two-thirds of the globe to the Far East, Spain, England and the West Coast of the U.S. Soriano is its unquestioned boss. When the government began meddling last April, he quit; more than 1,500 employees staged mass demonstrations, and the government, to coax him back, had to give him a free hand.

Bubbling Suds. Soriano, a U.S. citizen since 1945, began his empire-building as a 21-year-old accountant in Manila’s San Miguel Brewery. Within six years he rose to general manager. He plowed most of his salary and all the money he could borrow into expanding the business. Today the brewery grosses more than $30 million a year, netted $3,500,000 in 1951’s first half.

With his brewery profits, Soriano has bought mines, dairies, factories, forests, a radio station, owns the third largest Coca-Cola bottling franchise in the world, acts as Philippine agent for five insurance firms, distributor for Philip Morris cigarettes and Lord Calvert whiskey. Nor are his interests purely local. He controls Kansas City’s George Muehlebach Brewing Co., bosses gold mines in British East Africa, a development company in Spain. His holdings stretch so far & wide that one top executive, who has been with him 15 years, says: “I still haven’t been able to memorize even the names of all the companies yet.”

Glittering Chest. When Japan invaded the Philippines, Soriano organized a guerrilla army, was one of General MacArthur’s right-hand men (as a full colonel) in recapturing the islands. As a result, he can wear a cluster of decorations (including the Silver Star) on his Reserve officer’s uniform. He sends a daily ration of free beer to the Filipino troops fighting in Korea.

He is equally openhanded with his employees, pays them the highest factory wages in the Far East, knows as many as 2,000 by name. They get a free 100-lb. monthly ration of rice, free medical care, lifelong pensions, and have a commissary with the cheapest prices in Manila. When a toy shortage developed just before Christmas, Soriano dispatched a special P.A.L. plane to Hong Kong to pick up a load of toys for his employees’ children.

Soriano travels about 100,000 miles a year, has big, comfortable homes in Manila, Madrid, Southern France and Manhattan. In his world-girdling trips, he keeps a sharp eye open for new businesses. Says Soriano: “I’m neither an introvert, a handshaker nor a patter on the back. If there’s anything I enjoy doing, it’s planning big industries. I get a kick out of it.”