From diamonds to developments: Martin Yeung

When Martin Yeung looks back on the career path that led him toward success, it stretches all the way back to his father. A man of extraordinary resilience, Carlos started with just 50 cents in his pocket, rising from a humble paper boy to become a prominent figure in the diamond trade, even known as the ‘diamond prince’.

It was his Hong Kong-based diamond company, named MSY Holdings after his mother, Mariquita Salimbangon Yeung, that Yeung would return to after completing his education abroad – first in London and then in the United States. But now, two decades later, it is almost unrecognizable.

"I’ve rebranded the company. I’ve changed everything. I’ve literally changed the entire system," Yeung tells The CEO Magazine.

Diamonds are no longer at the company’s core. These days, it is a major real estate player based in Cebu, Philippines, with a diverse portfolio that encompasses property development, residential projects and memorial estates along with five-star hospitality brands.

"My father always told me that, in this world, it’s all about common sense and logic, and I’ve never forgotten that."

But even as the company has evolved, its core ethos has remained the same. For when he joined the company, he inherited not just the business but also his father’s legacy of hard work and dedication.

"My father always told me that, in this world, it’s all about common sense and logic, and I’ve never forgotten that," Yeung says.

Drawing on his father’s business acumen and his mother’s yen for philanthropy, Yeung’s leadership style sees him carefully balance innovation with tradition, ensuring that the company endures while still adapting to fresh challenges.

And while his father may no longer be at the company’s helm, his impact lives on. "I want people to recognize that this company that I’m handling now as CEO, owes everything to his genius," Yeung says proudly. "He’s the one that started it all. So the glory goes to my father and my mother."

In a good place

There are certainly plenty of successes to celebrate. Yeung reports strong results for MSY each year. "Our growth has been fantastic," he says.

But critical to this success has been the company’s willingness and ability to evolve. Around 2010, as Hong Kong’s diamond market became increasingly saturated, MSY found itself looking for fresh opportunities.

"Competition was extremely fierce," Yeung recalls. "Huge companies from all over the world started trying to get into Hong Kong and they finally got in."

Fortunately, Yeung’s father had already made some investments in Cebu, the homeland of his wife’s family.

"This place was booming at the time, and so as the market became saturated in Hong Kong, the investments that we started here started to slowly grow."

"I’ve rebranded the company. I’ve changed everything. I’ve literally changed the entire system."

The pair split their time between the two locations, working side by side, until 2015/16 when Yeung, by then Director, finally made the call that would change the business’ trajectory forever.

"We slowly started to wind down the dying business and focus all of our efforts here in Cebu – and the rest is history," he recalls.

The move paid off. But despite MSY’s upward trajectory over the last decade, Yeung remains modest. "We’re just a small potato," he demurs. "There are these fantastic companies here and I admire them a lot."

While he is careful not to compare MSY with those better established players, he keeps a keen eye on what they are doing.

"Imagine a tiger just circling. That’s what they do. They study their prey, take their time, understand the movements and then, when the time is right, they strike. And 2024 is the time that I strike – in a good way."

The next phase

When asked to sum up the company’s growth plans for the next three-to-five years, the word he likes to use is ‘conquering’.

MSY is in a particularly good place to build from, having spent the last few years focusing on improving the systems and processes that support the company, while also making sure that the team is more efficient and cohesive – with the entire company united under the tagline ‘Make Things Good’.

"The sky’s the limit," he says, pointing to numerous developments in the pipeline, including housing, building and resort projects.

In July this year, the company unveiled Harrington Place in Talisay City, a new residential development designed to cater to families while also integrating style and functionality. Sustainability has been prioritized in the new development with environmentally conscious features such as solar-powered street lights.

Aesthetics are also an important consideration with the complex powered by an underground electrical system in order to eliminate visible wires.

"We slowly started to wind down the dying business and focus all of our efforts here in Cebu – and the rest is history."

The Mactan Island Memorial Garden is another important project for MSY that Yeung is passionate about.

"Funeral services are one of the things I’m going to be launching in a big way," he shares, describing the new offering as a five-star facility that caters to all.

This year, he unveiled a new viewing chapel called The Wake, which offers a tranquil and elegant setting for families to say goodbye to their loved ones. He plans to expand the memorial park, which currently stretches across eight hectares, by a further two hectares in order to provide additional burial plots as well as family mausoleums.

"Whether you want a Hindu, Muslim or Christian type of funeral service, it doesn’t matter. It is open to all religions," he explains.

Importantly, he aims to make its services accessible to all by making them affordable.

"The person that is living in a small shack in the corner of the street, compared to the guy who’s living in Mar Louisa, which is like the Beverly Hills of Cebu – if you were to lose a loved one, the emotions of that multibillionaire person and the emotions of the person who just lives by the street: is there any difference in their emotion? Absolutely not," he says.

"That’s what it’s all about, right? Giving back. Of course we’re going to make money. It’s a business. But giving back puts a smile on people’s faces. It’s the little things."

Good energy

It’s a generosity of spirit that permeates his entire approach to leadership, with his egalitarian approach one of the cornerstones of the MSY business. With almost 1,000 people working at MSY, he has implemented a culture of mutual respect, and has made a commitment to do the right thing by everyone who works there.

But he is quick to stress that this goodwill should not be conflated with weakness. Or that his confidence be mislabeled as arrogance.

"We’re only here for a limited period of time so why waste any type of energy in terms of negative energy, of trying to show off or showboat, or when I do business, to not be fair," he says. "That’s why to me, it’s always about a win–win."

Fame and glory are absolutely not on Yeung’s agenda, he insists. For him, it’s about helping people, with MSY’s success helping to make this dream possible. "When the company is blessed, everybody gets blessed," he says.

"Everything is a business, just like everything in this world is about negotiation. Everything in this world, in my opinion, is a chess game. You just have to know how to play it, how do you make the next move? But that’s with everything, not just business, it’s with life. It’s with your friends. It’s how you interact with people."

"Of course we’re going to make money. It’s a business. But giving back puts a smile on people’s faces. It’s the little things."

With Yeung a true believer in karma, just like his mother, it makes sense that the business is underpinned by a philanthropic arm, the MSY Charitable Foundation, which was founded by Mariquita in 1991.

The non-profit’s aim is to offer relief aid, health care and education for Filipinos from underprivileged backgrounds. It has done this over the last three decades by building health centers, adopting schools granting scholarships and building learning centers.

A close collaboration with Operation Smile Philippines has provided surgical care to thousands of children with cleft deformities.

Leading with heart

Sharing these beliefs and this sense of purpose with his team is a big part of Yeung’s job. Fortunately, he highlights leadership as his forte. "That’s probably my strongest trait of all, more than problem-solving, more than anything," he reflects.

"Leadership encompasses how to effectively and efficiently lead a group of people to believe in what you believe as leadership. How do you inspire them to really let them wholeheartedly see your vision wholeheartedly, without a doubt, not because of money, not because of the quest for glory, but because of their belief in you? That’s leadership," he says.

For Yeung, this means being firm but fair. "It’s about balance, right? You can’t lead people through being a dictator. You can try, but will they fully follow you? Will they be that diehard, unstoppable force?" he muses.

"You have to have that conviction as a leader. It’s not about you raising your voice. It’s about your aura."

"People follow goodness, they don’t follow fear. But you have got to make tough decisions when they come. You have to have that conviction as a leader. It’s not about you raising your voice. It’s about your aura," he says.

It was this innate knack for leadership that smoothed the process of taking the reins from his father and transitioning the business to what he refers to as MSY 2.0.

"MSY 1.0 was my father’s time. The man, the myth, the legend. He gave me the reins. He gave me the kingdom," Yeung says. "Yes, that time is over, but in a good way. That’s why we call it MSY 2.0."

Just as with any transition, there were challenges, he admits. A complete strategic overhaul was part of the process, but Yeung ensured that it was all done with respect.

Nothing is impossible

These leadership lessons are learned from a surprising area – military strategy. Yeung describes the topic as one of his passions, although quickly clarifies that it does not mean he has a love of war.

"It’s about learning the strategies of all these great leaders," he reveals. "Regardless of whatever happened at the end of their lives, you have to admire these great leaders.

"They’re great military strategists. How did they do it? How did they motivate their country, their people, to fight? Not through fear, but through the passion that the leaders inspired in them. And that’s what inspires me."

A particular idol of his is Alexander the Great, a former king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, who conquered vast swathes of land from Greece all the way to Egypt and India.

"He was loved by all, every country that he took over. They loved him, they respected him, they honored him. He was good. And that’s where I get my inspiration from," he says.

"Everything in this world, in my opinion, is a chess game. You just have to know how to play it, how do you make the next move?"

"When I say conquer, I don’t mean conquering through brutality, but conquering through love and kindness."

Yeung specifically references one of the historic figure’s most famous quotes: "Nothing is impossible to he who will try."

"That’s just my mindset, and perhaps why the employees see me as a leader," he ponders.

He himself sees his role and his successes over the years as his destiny, having learned the necessary skills to succeed and lead from his father, while his loving side harks back to his mother – a joint legacy he cannot forget.

"What are we doing all this for? Yes, we’re doing it to be successful, to have a good life, but I am also doing it to give back to my parents," he reflects.

"I’m always thankful for that despite where we are as a company, where we are in terms of what we do. I’m always thankful for that start."