John L. Gokongwei, Jr.

(traditional Chinese: ; Peh- e-j : G Ek-hui; born August 11, 1926 in Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China) is a Chinese Filipino businessman with holdings in telecommunications, financial services, petrochemicals, power generation, aviation and live stock farming. As of 2011, Gokongwei is the third richest entrepreneur in the Philippines with a networth of $2.4 billion, ranking behind only to Lucio Tan and Henry Sy.[1]

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1 Profile 2 External links 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Profile
He is the chairman of JG Summit Holdings, one of largest conglomerates in the Philippines. In 2005, his company spent $700 million of internally generated funds which was used to buy new aircraft for his airline, Cebu Pacific Air. From 2003 up to the present his telecom company Digitel Telecommunications Philippines spent nearly $800 million for its mobile carrier, Sun Cellular which is the 3rd largest mobile operator in the Philippines as of 2008. He is currently negotiating a $1 billion takeover of UIC[disambiguation needed], a property giant from Singapore of which he owns in excess of 30%. UIC[disambiguation needed] controls Singapore Land, one of the biggest property landlord in Singapore. Gokongwei also owns Universal Robina Corporation, one of the largest manufacturer of snacks in the Philippines. He also controls Robinsons Land one of the biggest property developers in the Philippines which also operates a chain of malls. He was born into a wealthy Cebu-based family, originally from China's Fujian province. The family fortune was lost when his affluent father died. He started his business career during World War II, buying and selling rice, clothing and scrap metal. He is married, and has six children. His only son, Lance Gokongwei, is now in charge of the Gokongwei Empire, serving as president and COO while his father serves as Chairman Emeritus. On August 29, 2007, at the Ateneo de Manila University, Gokongweis biography, John L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path of Entrepreneurship by the Universitys Dr. Marites A. Khanser, was launched, and it narrated the riches-to-rags-to-riches story of the tai-pan. Gokongwei stated that entrepreneurship is a way out of poverty. Khanser's book also enumerated the Nine Rules of business success[2] that Gokongwei followed since he was still a young businessman. In 2002 Gokongwei donated P200-million to the undergraduate school of management. He also gave donations to University of San Carlos, Xavier School, De La Salle University, Sacred Heart School and Immaculate Conception Academy.[3]

On February, 2008, Forbes Asia magazines first Heroes of Philanthropy list included 4 Filipinos - Jaime Zobel de Ayala, John Gokongwei, Ramn del Rosario Jr., and scar Lpez.The list is composed of 4 philanthropists each from 13 selected countries and territories in Asia.[4] John Gokongwei and fellow businessman Andrew Gotianun are cousins.[5]

[edit
John Gokongwei life story is another rags to riches success story of a true Filipino Taipan entrepreneur. His business empire company known as John Gokongwei Summit Holdings, Inc. or J.G. Summit Holdings, Inc. for short has been one of the most successful conglomerate in the Philippines today competing with more solid names such as SM Malls, PAL, and Ayala. It has business interests in branded consumer foods (Universal Robina Corp.), real estate property development (Robinsons Land Corp.), air transportation (Cebu Pacific Air), banking and financial services (Robinsons Bank), telecommunications (Sun Cellular and Digitel), petrochemicals (J.G. Summit Petrochemical Corp.), and United Industrial Corp. of Singapore. John Gokongwei Story started in 1927 in the Chinese province of Fujian where he was born. Because they needed to escape the turmoil in China, they migrated to the province of Cebu here in Philippines where his grandfather Pedro Gotiaoco operated a successful chain of movie houses. Lets view another entrepreneur story as we witness Gokongweis inspiring story with the various challenges that he faced delivered as part of his speech to the ad congress:

I was born to a rich Chinese-Filipino family. I spent my childhood in Cebu where my father owned a chain of movie houses, including the first air-conditioned one outside Manila. I was the eldest of six children and lived in a big house in Cebu s ForbesPark. A chauffeur drove me to school everyday as I went to San Carlos University, then and still one of the countrys top schools. I topped my classes and had many friends. I would bring them to watch movies for free at my fathers movie houses. When I was 13, my father died suddenly of complications due to typhoid. Everything I enjoyed vanished instantly. My fathers empire was built on credit. When he died, we lost everything-our big house, our cars, our business-to the banks. I felt angry at the world for taking away my father, and for taking away all that I enjoyed before. When the free movies disappeared, I also lost half my friends.

On the day I had to walk two miles to school for the very first time, I cried to my mother, a widow at 32. But she said: You should feel lucky. Some people have no shoes to walk to school. What can you do? Your father died with 10 centavos in his pocket. So, what can I do? I worked. My mother sent my siblings to China where living standards were lower. She and I stayed in Cebu to work, and we sent them money regularly. My mother sold her jewelry. When that ran out, we sold roasted peanuts in the backyard of our much-smaller home. When that wasnt enough, I opened a small stall in a palengke (market). I chose one among several palengkes a few miles outside the city because there were fewer goods available for the people there. I woke up at five oclock every morning for the long bicycle ride to the palengke with my basket of goods. There, I set up a table about three feet by two feet in size. I laid out my goods-soap, candles, and thread-and kept selling until everything was bought. Why these goods? Because these were hard times and this was a poor village, so people wanted and needed the basics: soap to keep them clean, candles to light the night, and thread to sew their clothes. I was surrounded by other vendors, all of them much older. Many of them could be my grandparents. And they knew the ways of the palengke far more than a boy of 15, especially one who had never worked before. But being young had its advantages. I did not tire as easily, and I moved more quickly. I was also more aggressive. After each day, I would make about 20 pesos in profit! There was enough to feed my siblings and still enough to pour back into the business. The pesos I made in the palengke were the pesos that went into building the business I have today. After this experience, I told myself, If I can compete with people so much older than me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything! Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows? The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And WE can play to win! This was one lesson I picked up when I was a teenager. It has been my guiding principle ever since. And I have had 66 years to practice self-determination. When I wanted something, the best person to depend on was myself. And so I continued to work. In 1943, I expanded and began trading goods between Cebu and Manila. From Cebu, I would transport tires on a small boat called a batel. After traveling for five days to Lucena, I would load them into a truck for the six-hour trip to Manila. I would end up sitting on top of my goods so they would not be stolen! In Manila, I would then purchase other goods from the earnings I made from the tires, to sell in Cebu. Then, when World War II ended, I saw the opportunity for trading goods in post-war Philippines. I was 20 years old. With my brother Henry, I put up Amasia Trading, which imported onions, flour, used clothing, old newspapers and magazines, and fruits from the United States. In 1948, my mother and I got my siblings back from China. I also converted a two-story building in Cebu to serve as our home, office, and warehouse all at the same time. The whole family began helping out with the business. In 1957, at age 31, I spotted an opportunity in corn-starch manufacturing. But I was going to compete with Ludo and Luym, the richest group in Cebu and the biggest cornstarch manufacturers. I borrowed money to finance the project. The first bank I approached made me wait for two hours, only to refuse my loan. The second one, China Bank, approved a P500,000-peso clean loan for me.

Years later, the banker who extended that loan, Dr. Albino Sycip said that he saw something special in me. Today, I still wonder what that was, but I still thank Dr. Sycip to this day. Upon launching our first product, Panda corn starch, a price war ensued. After the smoke cleared, Universal Corn Products was still left standing. It is the foundation upon which JG Summit Holdings now stands. Interestingly, the price war also forced the closure of a third cornstarch company, and one of their chemists was Lucio Tan, who always kids me that I caused him to lose his job. I always reply that if it were not for me, he will not be one of the richest men in the Philippines today. When my business grew, and it was time for me to bring in more people- my family, the professionals, the consultants, more employees- I knew that I had to be there to teach them what I knew. When dad died at age 34, he did not leave a succession plan. From that, I learned that one must teach people to take over a business at any time. The values of hard work that I learned from my father, I taught to my children. They started doing jobs here and there even when they were still in high school. Six years ago, I announced my retirement and handed the reins to my youngest brother James and only son Lance. But my children tease me because I still go to the office every day and make myself useful. I just hired my first Executive Assistant and moved into a bigger and nicer office. Building a business to the size of JG Summit was not easy. Many challenges were thrown my way. I could have walked away from them, keeping the business small, but safe. Instead, I chose to fight. But this did not mean I won each time. By 1976, at age 50, we had built significant businesses in food products anchored by a branded coffee called Blend 45, and agro- industrial products under the Robina Farms brand. That year, I faced one of my biggest challenges, and lost. And my loss was highly publicized, too. But I still believe that this was one of my defining moments. In that decade, not many business opportunities were available due to the political and economic environment. Many Filipinos were already sending their money out of the country. As a Filipino, I felt that our money must be invested here. I decided to purchase shares in San Miguel, then one of the Philippines biggest corporations. By 1976, I had acquired enough shares to sit on its board. The media called me an upstart. Who is Gokongwei and why is he doing all those terrible things to San Miguel? ran one headline of the day. In another article, I was described as a pygmy going up against the powers-that- be. The San Miguel board of directors itself even aid for an ad in all the countrys top newspapers telling the public why I should not be on the board. On the day of reckoning, shareholders quickly filled up the auditorium to witness the battle. My brother James and I had prepared for many hours for this debate. We were nervous and excited at the same time. In the end, I did not get the board seat because of the Supreme Court Ruling. But I was able to prove to others-and to myself-that I was willing to put up a fight. I succeeded because I overcame my fear, and tried. I believe this battle helped define who I am today. In a twist to this story, I was invited to sit on the board of Anscor and San Miguel Hong Kong 5 years later. Lose some, win some. Since then, Ive become known as a serious player in the business world, but the challenges havent stopped coming. Let me tell you about the three most recent challenges. In all three, conventional wisdom bet against us. See, we set up businesses against market Goliaths in very high-capital industries: airline, telecoms, and beverage.

Challenge No. 1: In 1996, we decided to start an airline. At the time, the dominant airline in the country was PAL, and if you wanted to travel cheaply, you did not fly. You went by sea or by land. However, my son Lance and I had a vision for Cebu Pacific: We wanted every Filipino to fly. Inspired by the low-cost carrier models in the United States, we believed that an airline based on the no-frills concept would work here. No hot meals. No newspaper. Mono-class seating. Operating with a single aircraft type. Faster turn around time. It all worked, thus enabling Cebu Pacific to pass on savings to the consumer. How did we do this? By sticking to our philosophy of low cost, great value. And we stick to that philosophy to this day. Cebu Pacific offers incentives. Customers can avail themselves of a tiered pricing scheme, with promotional seats for as low a P1. The earlier you book, the cheaper your ticket. Cebu Pacific also made it convenient for passengers by making online booking available. When we started 11 years ago, Cebu Pacific flew only 360,000 passengers, with 24 daily flights to 3 destinations. This year, we expect to fly more than five million passengers, with over 120 daily flights to 20 local destinations and 12 Asian cities. Today, we are the largest in terms of domestic flights, routes and destinations. We also have the youngest fleet in the region after acquiring new Airbus 319s and 320s. In January, new ATR planes will arrive. These are smaller planes that can land on smaller air strips like those in Palawan and Caticlan. Now you dont have to take a two-hour ride by mini-bus to get to the beach. Largely because of Cebu Pacific, the average Filipino can now afford to fly. In 2005, 1 out of 12 Filipinos flew within a year. In 2012, by continuing to offer low fares, we hope to reduce that ratio to 1 out of 6. We want to see more and more Filipinos see their country and the world! Challenge No. 2: In 2003, we established Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and developed a brand for the mobile phone business called Sun Cellular. Prior to the launch of the brand, we were actually involved in a transaction to purchase PLDT shares of the majority shareholder. The question in everyones mind was how we could measure up to the two telecom giants. They were entrenched and we were late by eight years! PLDT held the landline monopoly for quite a while, and was first in the mobile phone industry. Globe was a younger company, but it launched digital mobile technology here. But being a late player had its advantages. We could now build our platform from a broader

perspective. We worked with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems not available ten years ago. We chose our suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software. Being a Johnny-come- lately allowed us to create and launch more innovative products, more quickly. All these provided us with the opportunity to give the consumers a choice that would rock their world. The concept was simple. We would offer Filipinos to call and text as much as they want for a fixed monthly fee. For P250 a month, they could get in touch with anyone within the Sun network at any time. This means great savings of as much as 2/3 of their regular phone bill! Suddenly, we gained traction. Within one year of its introduction, Sun hit one million customers. Once again, the paradigm shifts - this time in the telecom industry. Suns 24/7 Call and Text unlimited changed the landscape of mobile- phone usage. Today, we have over 4 million subscribers and 2000 cell sites around the archipelago. In a country where 97% of the market is pre-paid, we believe we have hit on the right strategy. Sun Cellular is a Johnny-come- lately, but its doing all right. It is a third player, but a significant one, in an industry where Cassandras believed a third player would perish. And as we have done in the realm of air travel, so have we done in the telecom world: We have changed the marketplace. In the end, it is all about making life better for the consumer by giving them choices. Challenge No. 3: In 2004, we launched C2, the green tea drink that would change the face of the local beverage industry then, a playground of cola companies. Iced tea was just a sugary brown drink served bottomless in restaurants. For many years, hardly was there any significant product innovation in the beverage business. Admittedly, we had little experience in this area. Universal Robina Corporation is the leader in snack foods but our only background in beverage was instant coffee. Moreover, we would be entering the playground of huge multinationals. We decided to play anyway. It all began when I was in China in 2003 and noticed the immense popularity of bottled iced tea. I thought that this product would have huge potential here. We knew that the Philippines was not a traditional tea-drinking country since more familiar to consumers were colas in returnable glass bottles. But precisely, this made the market ready for a different kind of beverage. One that refreshes yet gives the health benefits of green tea. We positioned it as a spa in a bottle. A drink that cools and cleans- thus, C2 was born. C2 immediately caught on with consumers. When we launched C2 in 2004, we sold 100,000 bottles in the first month. Three years later, Filipinos drink around 30 million bottles of C2 per month. Indeed, C2 is in a good place. With Cebu Pacific, Sun Cellular, and C2, the JG Summit team took control of its destiny. And we did so in industries where old giants had set the rules of the game. Its not that we did not fear the giants. We knew we could have been crushed at the word go. So we just made sure we came prepared with great products and great strategies. We ended up changing the rules of the game instead. There goes the principle of self-determination, again. I tell you, it works for individuals as it does for companies. And as I firmly believe, it works for nations. I have always wondered, like many of us, why we Filipinos have not lived up to our potential. To be a truly great nation, we must also excel as entrepreneurs before the world. We must create Filipino brands for the global market place. When we started our own foray outside the Philippines 30 years ago, it wasnt a walk in the park. We set up a small factory in Hong Kong to manufacture Jack and Jill potato chips there. Today, we are all over Asia. We have the number-one-potato- chips brand in Malaysia and Singapore. We are the

leading biscuit manufacturer in Thailand, and a significant player in the candy market in Indonesia. Our Aces cereal brand is a market leader in many parts of China. C2 is now doing very well in Vietnam, selling over 3 million bottles a month there, after only 6 months in the market. Soon, we will launch C2 in other South East Asian markets. I am 81 today. But I do not forget the little boy that I was in the palengke in Cebu. I still believe in family. I still want to make good. I still dont mind going up against those older and better than me. I still believe hard work will not fail me. And I still believe in people willing to think the same way. Through the years, the market place has expanded: between cities, between countries, between continents. I want to urge you all here to think bigger. Why serve 86 million when you can sell to four billion Asians? And thats just to start you off. Because there is still the world beyond Asia. When you go back to your offices, think of ways to sell and market your products and services to the world. Create world-class brands. You can if you really tried. I did. As a boy, I sold peanuts from my backyard. Today, I sell snacks to the world. I want to see other Filipinos do the same.

John L. Gokongwei Jr. (born August 11, 1926 in Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China) is a Chinese-Filipino businessman with diverse businesses that includes telecommunications, financial services, petrochemicals, property development, aviation and live stock farming. In 2010, Forbes listed Gokongwei as the third richest man in the Philippines with a networth of USD1.5 billion (P66 billion).
Contents
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1 Early beginnings 2 Business career 3 Philanthropy 4 Personal life 5 External links 6 References 7 Citation

[edit]

Early beginnings

John Gokongwei was born to John Gokongwei Sr., and Juanita Marquez Lim. When he was just barely a year old, both his parents migrated and settled in Cebu. Unlike some of his contemporary Chinese-Filipino businessmen, Gokongwei lived a privileged life then. His father owned the biggest movie house in Cebu and Gokongwei Jr. would often treat his friends.

But in 1939, Gokongwei Sr. suddenly passed away after a wrong blood transfusion needed after he contracted typhoid fever. All their assets were immediately seized by the creditors and the young Gokongwei was barred from entering their movie house. Gokongwei revealed in interviews that it was a very humiliating experience. His mother Juanita had no choice but to break up the family and send some of his siblings back to China. Gokongwei was left under the care of his granduncle, Manuel Gotianuy. [edit]

Business career

After the Second World War broke out, Gokongwei was forced to fend for himself after his granduncle could no longer support him. During those years, the young Gokongwei, pedalled his wares using his bicycle. It was his first taste of being a businessman. But Gokongwei was ambitious and was not contented in just peddling his wares by bicycle. He then entered what he called the Batel Age. He would travel from Cebu to Manila selling stuffs via the batel or a small boat. Once, the batel he was riding sank after hitting a rock. The other passengers clung on to the tires he was going to sell upon reaching Manila and thus, preventing Gokongwei from losing his wares. Seeing an opportunity for import trading, Gokongwei established his first company, American-Asia Trading. However, he quickly realized that tariffs will eat up his margins and so he ventured into manufacturing business and set up Universal Corn Products in 1956 using a loan granted to him by Dr. Alberto SyCip, father of Washington SyCip and the Chairman of the Board of China Bank. Ten years later, he established Universal Robina Corporation (PSE: URC), makers of popular snack food products such as Jack & Jill, Cloud 9 and Great Taste Coffee. In 1968, he put up his first retail store, Cebu Foodarama. In 1980, Gokongwei entered the real estate industry by establishing Robinsons Land Corporation (PSE: RLC) which operates on four markets namely: shopping malls (Robinsons Malls), office and high-rise residential buildings (Galleria Corporate Center, Robinsons Summit), private housing (Robinsons Homes) and hotels (Crowne Plaza). It was publicly listed in 1989. In 1990, the JG Summit Holdings was incorporated (PSE: JGS). It was listed on August 9, 1993 and acted as the holding firm for all of Gokongweis companies. In 1994, the JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation, the first and largest integrated polyethylene and polypropylene petrochemical facility was established In that same year, Gokongwei acquired 20 percent stake in the Toledo Power Corporation.

In 1995, Summit Media was launched with its first magazine, Preview. In 1996, Gokongwei acquired Cebu Pacific (PSE: CEB)with four DC-9 aircrafts. The aviation company claimed the number one spot in domestic market. It had its Initial Public Offering (IPO) on October 26, 2010. In 1997, Gokongwei Group of Companies entered the financial services by putting up Robinsons Savings Bank, a thrift bank. In 2000, Gokongwei opened the first Mini-Stop Convenience Store. In 2003, he launched Sun Cellular under Digital Telecommunications (PSE: DGTL) (acquired in 1993) to compete against telecommunication giants Globe Telecom and Smart Communications. [edit]

Philanthropy

In 1992, Gokongwei established the nonstock, nonprofit Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF). The GBF provides funding for education projects. Among the beneficiaries of the GBF were: Xavier School, Immaculate Conception Academy, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University and University of San Carlos. The GBF has also established a technical training facility. In 2006, on his 80th birthday, Gokongwei donated his 25 percent shareholdings in JG summit or P10.25 billion pesos to his foundation, Gokongwei Brothers Foundation. He also donated another P50 million to University of San Carlos. In 2007, the launched the GBF China Scholars, in which 34 Filipinos were selected for a full year of scholarship to Beijing Language and Culture University in Beijing, China. In 2008, he was a recipient of Forbes Asia magazine's Philanthropy award, which also included Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Ramon del Rosario and Oscar Lopez. [edit]

Personal life

Gonkonwei is married to Elizabeth Yu-Gokongwei. His children, Lance Gokongwei, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Faith Gokongwei-Lim, Marcia Gokongwei-Sy and Hope Gogkongwei-Tang hold various positions in the Gokongwei Group.

He is the cousin of Andrew Gotianun, also a descendant of the prominent Go clan. His great-grandfather Don Pedro Gotiaoco, a Chinese immigrant during the 19th century, became one of the richest Filipino during those times. He received his Masters in Business Administration in De La Salle University and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. In 2007, his biography, John L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path of Entrepreneurship written by Dr. Marites A. Khanser, was launched at Ateneo de Manila University. [edit]

External links

JG Summit The Philippines' 40 richest Business Week People info - John Gokongwei, Jr. [edit]

References

John Gokongwei, Jr. richest to rags to riches Gokongwei does a Buffett The art of an entrepreneur Khansar, Marites A. 'John L. Gokongwei Jr. The Path of Entrepreneurship'. Ateneo de Manila

COCO CHANEL*COCO CHANEL*COCO CHANEL*

Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (19 August 1883 10 January 1971)[1] was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist philosophy, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel. Her extraordinary influence on fashion was such that she was the only person in the couturier field to be named on Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.[2]

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1 Early life 2 Personal life and entry into fashion o 2.1 World War II o 2.2 Later years and death 3 Film depictions 4 Literary depictions 5 Stage depictions 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Chanel was born in Saumur, France. She was the second daughter of Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle, a market stallholder and laundrywoman respectively at the time of her birth. Her birth was declared by employees of the hospital in which she was born. They, being illiterate, could not provide or confirm the correct spelling of the surname and it was recorded by the mayor Franois Poitou as "Chasnel".[3] This misspelling made the tracing of her roots almost impossible for biographers when Chanel later rose to prominence. Her parents married in 1883. She had five siblings: two sisters, Julie (18821913) and Antoinette (born 1887) and three brothers, Alphonse (born 1885), Lucien (born 1889) and Augustin (born and died 1891). In 1895, when she was 12 years old, Chanel's mother died of tuberculosis and her father left the family. Because of this, the young Chanel spent six years in the orphanage of the Roman Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she learned the trade of a seamstress. School

vacations were spent with relatives in the provincial capital, where female relatives taught Coco to sew with more flourish than the nuns at the monastery were able to demonstrate. When Coco turned eighteen, she was obliged to leave the orphanage, and affiliated with the circus of Moulins as a cabaret singer. During this time, Chanel performed in bars in Vichy and Moulins where she was called "Coco." Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and Chanel herself said that it was a "shortened version of coquette, the French word for 'kept women," according to an article in The Atlantic.

Gabrielle Dorziat modelling a Chanel hat, May 1912. Published in Les Modes.

[edit] Personal life and entry into fashion

While she failed to get steady work as a singer, it was at Moulins that she met rich, young French textile heir tienne Balsan, to whom she soon became an acknowledged mistress, keeping her day job in a tailoring shop. Balsan lavished on her the beauties of "the rich life": diamonds, dresses, and pearls. While living with Balsan, Chanel began designing hats as a hobby, which soon became a deeper interest of hers. "After opening her eyes," as she would say, Coco left Balsan and took over his apartment in Paris. Biographer Justine Picardie, in her 2010 study Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life (Harper Collins), suggests that the fashion designer's nephew Andr Palassesupposedly the only child of her sister Juliemay actually have been Chanel's child by Balsan. In 1909 Chanel met and began an affair with one of Balsan's friends, Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel.[4] Capel financed Chanel's first shops and his own clothing style, notably his jersey blazers, inspired her creation of the Chanel look. The couple spent time together at fashionable resorts such as Deauville, but he was never faithful to Chanel.[5] The affair lasted nine years, but even after Capel married an aristocratic English beauty in 1918, he did not completely break off with Chanel. His death in a car accident, in late 1919, was the single most devastating event in

Chanel's life.[6] A roadside memorial at the site of the accident was placed there by Chanel, who visited it in later years to place flowers there.[7] Chanel became a licensed modiste (hat maker) in 1910 and opened a boutique at 21 rue Cambon, Paris named Chanel Modes.[8] Chanel's modiste career bloomed once theatre actress Gabrielle Dorziat modelled her hats in the F Noziere's play Bel Ami in 1912 (Subsequently, Dorizat modelled her hats again in Les Modes).[8] In 1913, she established a boutique in Deauville, where she introduced luxe casual clothes that were suitable for leisure and sport.[8] Chanel launched her career as fashion designer when she opened her next boutique, titled Chanel-Biarritz, in 1915,[8] catering to the wealthy Spanish clientele who holidayed in Biarritz and were less affected by the war.[9] Fashionable like Deauville, Chanel created loose casual clothes made out of jersey, a material typically used for men's underwear.[8] By 1919, Chanel was registered as a couturiere and established her maison de couture at 31 rue Cambon.[8] Later in life, she concocted an elaborate false history for her humble beginnings. Chanel would steadfastly claim that when her mother died, her father sailed for America to get rich and she was sent to live with two cold-hearted spinster aunts. She even claimed to have been born in 1893 as opposed to 1883, and that her mother had died when Coco was two instead of twelve. In 1920, she was introduced by ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev to Igor Stravinsky, composer of The Rite of Spring, to whom she extended an offer for him and his family to reside with her. During this temporary sojourn it was rumoured that they had an affair.[citation needed]

Perfume Chanel No.5

In 1924, Chanel made an agreement with the Wertheimer brothers, Pierre and Paul, directors of the eminent perfume house Bourgeois since 1917, creating a corporate entity, "Parfums Chanel."

The Wertheimers agreed to provide full financing for production, marketing and distribution of Chanel No. 5. For ten percent of the stock, Chanel licensed her name to "Parfums Chanel" and removed herself from involvement in all business operations.[10] Displeased with the arrangement, Chanel worked for more than twenty years to gain full control of "Parfums Chanel."[10] She proclaimed that Pierre Wertheimer was the bandit who screwed me.[11] Coco dated some of the most influential men of her time, but she never married. The reason may be found in her answer, when asked why she did not marry the Duke of Westminster: "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel."[12] In 1925, Vera Bate Lombardi, ne Sarah Gertrude Arkwright,[13] reputedly the illegitimate daughter of the Marquess of Cambridge,[13] became Chanel's muse, and also her liaison to a number of European royal families. Chanel established the English look based upon Lombardi's personal style. Lombardi also had the highest possible social connections. She introduced Chanel to her uncle, the Duke of Westminster, her cousin, the Duke of Windsor, and many other aristocratic families.[14] In 1927 she built Villa La Pausa in Roquebrune on the French Riviera hiring the architect Robert Streitz. The villa has a staircase and a patio inspired by her orphanage, Aubazine. La Pausa has been partially replicated at the Dallas Museum of Art to welcome the Reves collection and part of Chanel's original furniture for the house.[15] It was in 1931 while in Monte Carlo that Chanel made the acquaintance of Samuel Goldwyn. The introduction was made through a mutual friend, The Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, cousin to the last czar of Russia, Nicolas II. Goldwyn offered Chanel a tantalizing proposition. For the sum of a million dollars (approximately seventy-five million today), he would bring her to Hollywood twice a year to design costumes for MGM stars. Chanel accepted the offer. En route to California from New York traveling in a white train car, which had been luxuriously outfitted specifically for her use, she was interviewed by Colliers magazine in 1932. Chanel said she had agreed to the arrangement to "see what the pictures have to offer me and what I have to offer the pictures."[16]
[edit] World War II

In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Chanel closed her shops. She believed that it was not a time for fashion.[9] During the German occupation Chanel resided at the Hotel Ritz, which was also noteworthy for being the preferred place of residence for upper echelon German military staff. She also maintained an apartment above her couture house at 31 rue Cambon. During that time she was criticized for having an affair with Hans Gnther von Dincklage, a German officer and Nazi spy who arranged for her to remain in the hotel. World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish owned property and business enterprises provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by "Parfums Chanel" and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of "Parfums Chanel," the Wertheimers, were Jewish, and Chanel used her position as an Aryan to petition German officials to legalize her right to sole ownership. On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that Parfums Chanel is still the

property of Jewsand had been legally abandoned by the owners.[17] I have, she wrote, an indisputable right of prioritythe profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this businessare disproportionate[and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years.[18] Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews had, in May 1940, legally turned control of Parfums Chanel over to a Christian, French businessman and industrialist, Felix Amiot.[17] Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, re-negotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits of Chanel No. 5 in the amount of some nine million dollars in todays money, and in the future her share would be two percent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide. The financial benefit to herself would be enormous. Her earnings would be in the vicinity of twenty-five million dollars a year, making her at the time one of the richest women in the world.[19][20] Chanels friend and biographer Marcel Haedrich provided a telling estimation of her wartime interaction with the Nazi regime: If one took seriously the few disclosures that Mademoiselle Chanel allowed herself to make about those black years of the occupation, ones teeth would be set on edge.[21] In 1943, after four years of professional separation, Chanel contacted Lombardi, who was living in Rome. She invited Lombardi to come to Paris and renew their work together. This was actually a cover for "Operation Modellhut," an attempt by Nazi spymaster Walter Schellenberg to make secret contact with Lombardi's relative Winston Churchill.[14][22] When Lombardi refused, she was arrested as a British spy by the Gestapo. Chanel was later charged as a collaborator, but avoided trial due to intervention by the British Royal family.[14]

Haute Couture suit circa 1960, designed by Chanel.

Chanel was a very close friend of Walter Schellenberg to the extent that when he died of cancer penniless in Turin, Chanel paid for his funeral.

Some references[23] suggest that Coco Chanel had close contact with another Nazi, Walter Kutschmann, who was responsible for the murder of thousands of Poland's Jews early in World War II. He was transferred to France in 1943 where he became Chanel's Paris SS contact. Kutschmann made frequent trips to Spain with Chanel with large sums of money passing between them.[24]
[edit] Later years and death

In 1945, she moved to Switzerland, eventually returning to Paris in 1954, the same year she returned to the fashion world.[9] The re-establishment of her couture house in 1954 was fully financed by Chanels old nemesis in the perfume battle, Pierre Wertheimer. This new contractual agreement would also allow Wertheimer to maintain ownership of Parfums Chanel. In return, Wertheimer agreed to an unusual arrangement proposed by Chanel herself, attempting to revive her youthful years as the kept woman of wealthy men. Wertheimer would pay for all of Chanels expenses from the large to the trivial for as long as she lived.[25] Her new collection did not have much success with the Parisians because of her relationship with the Nazis; However, it was applauded by the British and Americans, who became her faithful customers.[26] In early 1971 Chanel, then eighty-seven years old, was tired and ailing but continued to adhere to her usual schedule, overseeing the preparation of the spring collection. She died on Sunday 10 January, at the Hotel Ritz where she had resided for more than thirty years.[27] She had gone for a long drive that afternoon and, not feeling well, had retired early to bed.[28]