Jose Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco may not be as popular a household name like Ramon Ang, Enrique Razon or Lucio Tan, but he is no less influential, wearing multiple corporate hats just like the rest of the captains of industry.
Limcaoco’s moniker and initials was actually TJ for Jose Teodoro in reverse, but was lost in pronunciation by his nanny who pronounced it as TG, which the ward embraced out or respect.
TG, as friends and close associates call him, has been a top honcho in 19 different companies and sits at the board either as chairman, president, chief executive or director.
He is widely known in the banking circles and had stints with prestigious firms like Barclays and the Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands where he now serves as president and CEO.
The resounding success of TG’s career had a rock-solid foundation, having received an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a Master’s from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
TG gives more credit to his father for inculcating in him the true value of good education.
After finishing high school in Ateneo de Manila University, TG eyed the state-run University of the Philippines, but his dad dared him to pursue higher learning overseas. He ended up in Stanford and Wharton.
Speaking of education, TG had this to say; “The best gift any parent can give their kids is education…that’s something that lasts forever. Give them the most challenging education, and you have to encourage your kids.”
He told his children there is no easy path to success, with hardly a time to smell the roses on the sideway, and they had to be strong emotionally and intellectually to overcome the challenges down the road.
So it came to pass that TG’s children migrated to the US. One of them is a doctor, one in marketing and another is an engineer.
He advised them not to take up a course, but rather to go after their dreams. “What you should take up in college is what truly interests you,” he said.
TG admits he wasn’t cut out for business administration, so he shifted to mathematical sciences.
He recalls that initially, he had an awful time at Stanford where he felt he was virtually alone in the whole universe. Somehow, he eventually made some friends, and he survived.
After graduating from the Ivy League in 1984, TG worked as a software programmer for a semi-conductor firm until 1986.
His career in finance and banking took off two years later when J.P Morgan hired him for a job in New York. It had as short life span, and TG decided to try his luck at the home front.
As fate would have it, TG was named senior manager in the corporate finance wheel of BPI from 1989 to 1992.
After three years, J.P Morgan made him an offer he could not refuse: as vice president based in Singapore. The company’s plan to set up business in the Philippines did not push through, and TG decided the grass is greener at home.
BPI welcomed him with arms unfurled. From January 1995 to January 1997, TG sat as president of BPI Capital Corp.
Once more, Barclays pirated TG, then 35, with an offer to be its youngest Filipino country head, and he took it from April to November 1997.
Once more, it was short-lived as the Asian financial market went into a tailspin, forcing Barclays to close all its Asian operations.
Once more, the Ayala Group opened its doors for TG, and he walked in as its managing director from 1998 to 2006. He also walked right back to BPI Capital Corp. in 2007 as president up to 2010.
From 2010 to 2015, he was designated president and director of BPI Family Savings Bank. From 2015 to 2021, he was the chief financial officer of Ayala Corp.
Despite his fortune, TG never forgets to be a good Samaritan to those in need, believing that extending a helping hand turns around full circle a thousand times over.
