BEHIND the success of McDonald’s, a determined and admirable businessman and leader has carried it all.

For 85 years, George Yang, the McDonald’s entrepreneur and the singing tycoon, has celebrated his birthday on this day. His eight decades of life have shown that constant actions — driven by a clear goal and a big dream — would lead one to places.

A family business

George Yang’s childhood started in Tondo, Manila. Some said business had been in his blood, as he was the eldest son of a Chinese couple. His parents were also businessmen.

Yang looked up to his grandparents when it came to entrepreneurial values and generosity. His grandfather, a Chinese immigrant, established an insurance firm in the country.

He decided to follow in the footsteps of his family in entrepreneurship and graduated with a business administration degree from De La Salle University. He pursued further studies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for a master’s degree.

It was not an easy journey. In 1974, Yang applied for the right to operate the McDonald’s franchise but had to wait and was rejected. Before becoming a businessman, Yang devoted himself to working to gain firsthand experience in the fast-food industry.

When he had his eldest son, Kenneth, he applied as a service crew at a McDonald’s branch in Hong Kong. He had to work in the kitchen, clean tables and wash bathrooms. The experience helped him get a better insight into the industry, and this helped him gain the right to operate the McDonald’s franchise in the Philippines in 1980.

A year after that, the first McDonald’s Philippines branch was established in Morayta, Manila. Soon, branches followed across the Philippines. Now, McDonald’s Philippines had more than 700 branches nationwide with 60,000 employees.

Yang also had different businesses aside from the popular franchise. First Georgetown Ventures Inc., a real estate company, was one of them. His wife, Kristine Yang, also owned a jewelry business, called Kristine Jewelry. Truly, business ran in the family.

Generosity and social contribution

Not only was Yang a businessman, but he was also a philanthropist. He learned this from his grandmother, who had taught him the value of giving.

“Giving back is also a way of selfpreservation because when you give back and [contribute] time, energy, ideas or money to something, you acknowledge the continuity of life; that there is something beyond you that will survive you and continue,” he said in a previous interview with The Manila Times.

This led him to establish foundations that benefited society. He started the Ronald McDonald House Charities in 1996 to help bring necessities to the needy. Its partnership with the Department of Education allowed it to aid the schooling of children through encouraging reading.

Aside from that, the foundation had two more major projects. The Ronald McDonald Bahay Bulilit Program prepared children for their formal schooling. The program — together with its partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and volunteer social workers — created worthwhile activities for children to learn.

Kindness Kitchen was a program that opened during the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the lockdowns that forced several branches to temporarily close, some stores remained open to provide meals for frontliners and volunteers.

Although the protocols have eased, Kindness Kitchen continued to operate. It provided meals to nongovernment organizations and communities hit by disasters.

Yang believed in the power of people and pushing them to be better. McDonald’s employees were not subjected to contractualization.

Young and elderly people were given equal opportunities when it came to employment. Truly, for Yang, age was just a number and was not an indicator of what people’s capacity could be.

A passionate singer

Aside from his career, Yang had an exceptional passion for music. He had been singing since he was 12 years old, but his father persuaded him to take up a different career. This did not discourage him from showing his talent to the world.

Currently, he has had three recordings: “Yang at Heart,” “Forever Yang” and “The Night is Yang.” He even had a collaboration with Jose Mari Chan, the iconic Filipino Christmas anthem singer, for a McDonald’s commercial.

People also heard him perform live at his first solo concert, “Yang Klassics Concert,” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. This earned him the title of “The Singing Tycoon.”

In order to help talented young musicians reach their potential, he established the Klassikal Music Foundation in 2007. German Filipino singer Gerphil Flores was one of its scholars.

It was quite clear that the acclaimed McDonald’s entrepreneur could teach the following lessons from his past experiences and present successes: one should dream big, and carry on despite the challenges; it was important to have these clear goals and to continue chasing them no matter how long it took; and that there is no such thing as it’s too late.