Fernando Zobel de Ayala, who stepped down from the boards of various corporations within the Ayala Group last year for health reasons, is rejoining the board of Ayala Land Inc., a decision-making body he led as chairman for over two decades until last year, albeit in a less stressful role.
“Our board appointed Mr. Fernando Zobel de Ayala as advisor to the board. Mr. Zobel de Ayala was our chairman of the board for 23 years,” Ayala Land disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Zobel’s new role as adviser is a good sign of his recovery from an undisclosed illness that initially forced him to take a medical leave early last year. By September, however, the Ayala Group announced Zobel was resigning from various executive and non-executive positions he held in companies of the group.
Zobel, who will turn 63 next month, and his elder brother, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, have taken over the leadership of the Ayala Group after their father, Jaime Zobel de Ayala, started relinquishing his executive roles within the group in the mid-1990s. The Ayala Group started diversifying under the Zobel brothers’ watch, moving to utilities, power and infrastructure development and pushing businesses such as Globe Telecom to bigger industry roles.
Meantime, the board of Ayala Land also approved a stock option program for its employees covering up to 20.2 million shares at a subscription price of P24.68, discount to Tuesday’s closing price of P28,95.
