Sy’s company, SM Investments Corp., today operates major malls across the Philippines and China, as well as department stores, supermarkets and smaller grocery stores, and banks. Sy and his son Hans were instrumental in establishing ICSC Asia-Pacific, and Annie Garcia, the company’s president, serves on the ICSC Asia-Pacific board.

Sy opened his first ShoeMart (from which SM derived its name) in 1958. In 1972 he opened the first SM department store. In 2006 the landmark SM Mall of Asia opened, in metro Manila, and the company also built massive mixed-use developments there and in other cities. At his death, Sy, who was chairman emeritus of SM Investments Corp., was worth some $19 billion and was the Philippines’ richest person, according to The New York Times.

“He was the father of the competitive Philippine retail industry,” said business analyst Astro del Castillo, managing director of First Grade Finance, as the newspaper reports. “He really rose from the ranks, from being just an ordinary businessman to becoming one of the most well-known in Asia and the world.”