Meet The 8th-Generation Heir Shaking Up A 191-Year-Old Empire

Forbes

Ayala Corp. managing director Mariana Beatriz Zobel de Ayala takes up challenge to recharge 191-year-old group’s future growth.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanburgos/2025/08/06/the-eighth-generation-heir-driving-big-changes-at-philippines-oldest-conglomerate-ayala/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, the 8th generation air driving big changes at Philippines' oldest conglomerate,

00:06Ayala. Mariana Beatriz Zobel de Ayala was a 24-year-old equity analyst working on Wall Street

00:13over a decade ago, when she got a call from her father, Jaime Augusto. The chairman of the

00:19Philippines' oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp., nudged his eldest daughter to come home.

00:25Mariana recalls, quote, he hinted at opportunities in the Philippines. However, there was never any

00:31pressure, she hastens to add, with the option of returning to New York left on the table.

00:36Her sense of duty won out and she quit her job at J.P. Morgan. She says, quote, it was the right

00:42thing to do. After spending 12 years learning the ropes in various roles across the 191-year-old

00:49banking-to-property group, Mariana, who is 36 years old, was appointed this past March

00:55as a managing director at Ayala Corp. She's tasked with sprucing up its vast leasing portfolio

01:01of aging malls, office buildings, and hotels, a number of which sprung up after Ayala Corp

01:07spun off its expanding real estate division in 1988 and listed Ayala Land three years later.

01:13At the same time as her elevation, her brother Jaime Alfonso, who is 34 years old, and cousin

01:20Jaime Urquillo, who is 37, were named executive directors at the group. With these promotions,

01:26Ayala Corp. said, the next generation of leaders was in place to drive its future growth.

01:32From her top floor office at the 39-story Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2 in Makati City, home

01:39to Ayala Corp. and other Philippine corporate giants, such as noodle maker Monday Nissen and

01:44telecoms firm PLDT, Mariana tells Forbes Asia, quote, we're firing on all cylinders in the

01:51next few years. The booming financial hub was the family's first real estate development,

01:57carved out from vast tracts of agricultural land acquired when the Philippines was still

02:02a colony of Spain. As one of the stewards of a storied legacy and with her dad's office just a few

02:08doors away from hers, the Harvard and INSEAD grad isn't taking things lightly. She says,

02:13quote, we've seen how the prior generations charted new paths. That's something we hope we can continue

02:19to do. While her brother is charged with the group's EV infrastructure and car distribution

02:25businesses as CEO of AC Mobility, and cousin Jaime Urquillo targets ESG deliverables as Ayala Corp's

02:33Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer, Mariana has her work cut out for her at Ayala Land,

02:39the nation's second-largest property developer by market cap, at $6.5 billion.

02:45Mariana is working with its president and CEO, Anna Ma Margarita B. Dai, as the group undertakes one

02:51of its biggest capital investments to date, $2.5 billion to be spent on expanding Ayala Land's

02:57footprint across the country over the next five years. Mariana says, quote, it's not just about

03:04our family shareholders, we have public shareholders too. It's a huge responsibility.

03:10The master plan includes a $1.5 billion makeover of its retail properties. On the to-do list is

03:16refurbishing eight of its 34 malls and building new ones to add 700,000 square meters of gross leasable

03:23area by 2028 to the current 2.2 million square meters. Several Ayala-owned hotels and resorts

03:31operating under homegrown brands Seda Hotels and El Nito resorts are also slated for redevelopment

03:37alongside plans to seek new global brand partners. And this year we'll see the launch of Ayala Land's

03:43first two so-called techno hubs, purpose-built buildings for science and tech companies.

03:48Ayala Land isn't a laggard by any stretch. It posted record revenue in 2024 of 181 billion

03:56pesos, up by a fifth from a year earlier. But future-proofing is a key priority,

04:02says Benjamin Garcia, head of research at AP Securities in Manila. In particular,

04:07reducing its reliance on cyclical residential sales, currently the biggest contributor to the

04:12company's top line. Then there are also its deep-pocketed rivals to contend with.

04:19For full coverage, and to see the Forbes 2025 Philippines is Richest list,

04:24check out Jonathan Burgos and Ian Saison's piece on Forbes.com.

04:30This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes. Thanks for tuning in.

04:42Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:59Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

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