Eugenio Lopez III, commonly known as
Gabby, is the current Chairman and
Chief Executive OfficerA chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of ABS-CBN, the largest media
conglomerateA conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
in the Philippines, with investments primarily in television, radio and film production. He is also director and treasurer of Benpres Holdings Corporation, ABS-CBN's parent and the flagship company of the Lopez Group.
He became chairman and CEO of ABS-CBN in 1996, when his father, the late Eugenio “Geny” Lopez, Jr., turned over the reins of the family-owned company to the younger Lopez, who had been President from 1993 to 1996. His mother, Conchita "Chita" La'O Lopez was one of the daughters of the wealthy Chinese-Filipino
ManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
La'O family, whose other daughter married into the old Manila clan of Manotoc (making her an aunt of Tomas "Tommy" Manotoc, a former basketball player and golf aficionado, and ex-husband of
Imee MarcosMaria Imelda Josefa Romualdez Marcos , most widely known as Imee Marcos, is a Filipino politician who has been Governor of Ilocos Norte since 2010. She served three terms as Representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1998 to 2007...
, daughter of
Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
and
Imelda MarcosImelda R. Marcos is a Filipino politician and widow of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986...
) while yet another daughter married Philippine senator
Raul ManglapusRaúl Sevilla Manglapus was a prominent post-World War II Filipino politician. He co-founded the reformist Progressive Party of the Philippines and the Christian Democratic Socialist Movement in 1968 .He was appointed as the Philippines' youngest-ever foreign minister in 1957,...
.
Mr. Lopez has 4 children. His daughter is married, residing in London. The eldest son, Eugenio Manuel Lopez IV is also married, residing in California. The 2 younger children, Santiago and Andres live with Mr. Lopez in Manila.
ABS-CBN had enjoyed network leadership since its founding in 1953, apart from the years 1972 to 1986, when the company and all its affiliates were wrested from the Lopezes by the Marcos government. During this period and following his education, Gabby was employed at Crocker National Bank, where he served as Assistant Vice President in the Bank's backoffice processing area. He had an undistinguished banking career in the U.S. while waiting for work in his family's media and utility interests in the Philippines.
When control of the company was restored by the Aquino administration in 1986, Gabby Lopez was given a job by his father and started with ABS-CBN as Director of Finance. He was appointed General Manager a year later and the network regained its supremacy shortly after.
The leadership of Gabby Lopez saw the steady growth of ABS-CBN’s staple businesses, while he aggressively pursued the company’s diversification into various successful ventures. These include Interactive Media, Sound Recording, Post-Production, International Cable and Satellite Distribution, Sports Programming and Licensing and Merchandising.
A visionary, he created the Lopez Communications Group in 1997. CommGroup is the management committee that oversees the development and implementation of convergence projects for ABS-CBN together with BayanTel and SkyCable, the Lopezes investments in telecommunications and cable telephony and data warehousing across the three companies. He is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CommGroup.
Lopez holds a
Bachelor of ArtsA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in
Political SciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from
Bowdoin CollegeBowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
(1970-1974) and a
Master of Business AdministrationThe Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from
Harvard Business SchoolHarvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
(1978-1980). He is a member of the prominent
López family of IloiloThe López family of Iloilo are a wealthy and influential dynasty of business owners, politicians, and philanthropists in the Philippines. They trace their origins to Basilio López, a trader of Chinese origin who adopted the López surname and became district mayor of Jaro, Iloilo City, in 1849 ....
; his father, the late
Eugenio "Geny" Lopez, Jr.Eugenio Lopez, Jr. , popularly known as Geny and Kapitan, was the Chairman Emeritus of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation.-Early life and career:...
, is known as one of the innovators of Philippine television.
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