30 The 1986 EDSA Revolution had brought with it a monumental change in the economy, which within a year had swung back from negative growth. Ayala’s net earnings had risen to P401 million, a 75 percent increase from the previous year. But as the aftermath of the revolution continued to hold the country on shaky political ground, Ayala carried on with its delicately balanced act of informed investment and even-handed control.
Jaime Zobel de Ayala In 1967, as managing partner of Ayala y Compañia, Jaime Zobel de Ayala oversaw the transformation of the conglomerate from a family business into a corporation. It was no simple move for a business that had retained its structure and its hierarchy of leadership for over one hundred years. But Jaime Zobel saw the transformation as essential to survival and success.
Peripheral businesses continued to be shed. Trading offices in Japan and the United States were shut down. But BPI continued to chart substantial growth. In addition, Integrated Microelectronics, Inc., a subsidiary devoted to semiconductor- and chip-building for a global market, also displayed growth, despite heated competition from a growing global technology industry. In 1988, inspired by the robust growth of its real estate business all through the most turbulent economic times in recent history, Ayala spun off its real estate division to form Ayala Land, Inc., which would shortly be publicly listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange. By the late 1980s, Ayala Corporation, under the stewardship of Jaime Zobel, had achieved net profits of more than P1 billion. This despite a chaotic economy, marked by a revolution, various coups d’etat, and external pressure from the Gulf War. But beyond profit, the Ayala leadership had emerged to be a true model for its time, combining powerful strategic strength and unerring visionary capability.
With the move to change came the call—not just for the best talent, but for the best of the best. Across all its enterprises, the newly minted corporation fortified its leadership with the country’s brightest and most accomplished minds. With the change also came the flexibility and autonomy that allowed each Ayala business to move quickly and confidently with each opportunity. Ayala’s transformation into a more professional corporation ushered in what many have called the Ayala Golden Age—a long bright period of massive expansion, dramatic growth, and unprecedented success. If Jaime Zobel was the visionary behind this period of transformation, Joseph McMicking was the architect who ensured the change would be seen and felt. As managing partner of Ayala y Compañia from the 1930s until the late 1960s, McMicking was an early visionary who nurtured the company’s real estate development plans early on. Suddenly, as McMicking’s massive Makati development plan began taking shape, the landscape itself underwent a dramatic change. Indeed, the development of Makati clearly and powerfully reflected Ayala’s success and prosperity. Jaime Zobel occupies a singular place in Ayala history. As president and chairman from 1984 to 1994 and chairman until 2006, he had the vision to see the importance of turning the family business into a corporate entity, as well as the skill to preside over the transformation process. But he has also been an accomplished artist, whose photography has been widely exhibited and acclaimed, and who continues to produce photographic collections. As an individual deeply involved in the arts and culture, Zobel also singlehandedly enlarged Ayala’s involvement in the country’s cultural and social development. Like his ideas and his art, Ayala continues to be progressive and productive. Today, as chairman emeritus of the company, Jaime Zobel still keeps watch over a conglomerate that owes much of its growth and its success to his vision, and still bears much of his image and his personality. To be sure, it was most likely this unique way of seeing that allowed Zobel the prescience to introduce such massive change. As an artist, he perceived the changing milieu, and was keenly aware of the necessity to gather a progressive mindset. As a businessman, he was able to predict the changing demands of the industries Ayala was involved in, and saw great advantage in sourcing the talent and capabilities from outside the organization. Both the artist and the businessman, as it happened, were essential to Ayala’s success.
Bank of the Philippine Islands strengthened its network through mergers and acquisitions and enhanced its customer service through technological innovations such as the country’s first 24-hour automated teller machine (ATM) network Integrated Microelectronics, Inc. began operations at Laguna Technopark. It was Ayala’s first foray into contract manufacturing for computing and electronics Ayala invested in Globe-Mackay Cable & Radio Corporation in the 1970s, anticipating the need for an expansive telecommunications infrastructure two decades later