Philippine Media, Power Tycoon Oscar Lopez Dies At 93

Oscar Lopez—the patriarch of Lopez Holdings which has interests in the media, power, telecommunications and real estate—passed away on Saturday evening, just a few days after celebrating his 93rd birthday.

Lopez—fondly called by his employees and business associates by his initials OML—served as chairman and CEO of First Philippine Holdings for over two decades until 2010, steering the company to become one of the country’s largest electricity producers. Under his watch, the Lopez group’s ABS-CBN was forced to stop broadcasting its free-to-air TV and radio channels in 2020 after the Philippine Congress rejected the company’s application to renew its broadcast franchise. Its former broadcast frequencies have since been reassigned to Advanced Media Broadcasting of billionaire Manuel Villar, an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed to force ABS-CBN off the air after the network failed to run his 2016 presidential campaign ads.

“We honor OML for his inspiring and principled leadership of the Lopez companies,” according to a statement from the family and Lopez Holdings. “He was genuinely concerned with the welfare of the country and its people, and established businesses and initiatives that would spur development, create jobs, and uplift communities. He institutionalized the Lopez Credo for employees to understand that their purpose is to serve others and be faithful stewards.”

While ABS-CBN has since evolved into an digital media and entertainment company, distributing its content through streaming companies such as Netflix, the former Philippine broadcasting giant has scaled back much of its operations, generating revenues of 19.2 billion pesos ($339 million) in 2022, less than half of the 43 billion pesos it booked at its peak in 2019.

The shutdown of ABS-CBN also dragged the net worth of Lopez, which stood at $245 million when the list of the Philippines 50 Richest was last published in August, compared with $460 million in 2019. His son Federico, 61, is the chairman and CEO of Lopez Holdings and also chairs First Philippine Holdings.