Genius is seldom recognized for what it is: a great capacity for hard work.– Henry Ford

Rags-to-riches billionaire John Gokongwei Jr. celebrates his 80th birthday on August 11 with a special dinner for relatives and close friends. He is unlike others who dream of retirement at age 50, 60 or 70. I almost fell off my chair when he asked me to a recent dinner at his home: "Do you think I could still work up to age 90?" I felt like a lazy bum beside this hardworking business genius, whose passion is creating new businesses and non-stop learning. I am fortunate to have known him since 1987, when I was still a student, and I have always admired him for being a positive role model for the youth, as a rugged and honorable entrepreneur, and as a good family man.

Well, you know, I was a human being before I became a businessman.– Hungarian Jewish billionaire activist George Soros

If billionaire ABC-5 and Philippine Bank of Commerce boss Antonio "Tony Boy" Cojuangco were in showbiz like his girlfriend Gretchen Barretto, this writer would have suspected ex-ambassador Roy Señeres of being his clever PR guy for namedropping him as one of the alleged financiers of an alleged coup plot by West Point-trained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

What better way to make this Ateneo and Stanford MBA graduate look more macho in public than to claim that he's a swashbuckling supporter of idealistic military rebels? Something like a modern-day Zorro who acts as a rich scion by day and a secret rebel blasting away at corrupt government officials by night?