SM Investments appoints founder Henry Sy Sr. as chairman emeritus

SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) on Wednesday announced the appointment of founder Henry T. Sy Sr. as chairman emeritus of the company.

During the company's annual stockholders' meeting in Pasay City on Wednesday, SMIC Vice Chair Henry T. Sy Jr. made the announcement.

The younger Sy noted designating his father as chairman emeritus pays tribute and honor to "... the man and what he had done for the company."

Listed by Forbes Asia as the richest Filipino, the older Sy founded a shoe store in Quiapo district, called Shoe Mart, and turned it into what it is now a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate.

Sy Sr. closed 2016 with a net worth of $12.7 billion.

Jose T. Sio, the company's chief financial officer for 26 years, will succeed Sy as chair.

"He was highly instrumental in supporting the phenomenal growth of SM and its subsidiaries," Cora Guidote, SMIC senior vice president for Investor Relations, told reporters in a briefing in Pasay City.

In the same briefing, SMIC also announced that Executive Vice President Frederic C. DyBuncio will take over as president.

"Mister DyBuncio will assume the role of president of SM Investments in place of Mr. Harley T. Sy who will remain as executive director of the board," Guidote said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News