How a husband-and-wife team rose into ranks of Philippines' richest by building its second-largest broadband provider
Founded by Dennis Anthony and Maria Grace Uy nearly two decades ago, Converge ICT has grown into the Philippines' second-largest broadband internet services provider and made its founding couple some of the country's richest people.
In 2007, Dennis and Grace Uy began their journey to becoming two of the wealthiest individuals in the Philippines by founding Converge, a broadband provider. Initially, Dennis worked at his uncle's grocery store, repairing refrigerators and freezers before launching his first business selling Betamax and VHS tapes while still in college. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Holy Angel University, he established ComClark in 1991, which eventually became the foundation for Converge.
In 1998, Dennis married Grace, and they later co-founded Converge, with Dennis serving as CEO and Grace as president. The company quickly distinguished itself by becoming the first to deploy a pure end-to-end fiber internet network, offering high-speed connections to consumers who were previously stuck with slower dial-up services.
Converge secured its first major contract laying cables for a Metro Manila cable TV operator and later obtained congressional approval to establish its own broadband network. The company expanded its services to neighboring provinces and eventually reached Metro Manila in 2013.
However, expanding nationwide proved challenging due to a lack of funding as banks were hesitant to invest in a new company with only 73,000 subscribers at the time. To overcome this obstacle, the Uy's drew on Converge's internal cash flow and secured bank loans by mortgaging family properties and providing personal guarantees.
In 2019, the couple secured a $225 million investment from New York-based private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which significantly boosted Converge's subscriber base and ultimately led to a successful IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2020, raising over $500 million. This marked the Uys' emergence as billionaires, with Forbes ranking them sixth on the Philippines rich list with a combined fortune of $2.8 billion.
Despite their immense success, the Uys' net worth has since declined to $850 million, placing them at 18th on this year's list due to the cooling of Converge shares and inflationary pressures. Nevertheless, the couple remains focused on expanding their business and investing in digital infrastructure for government agencies and businesses.
They have deployed over PHP120 billion into deploying 900,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables since 2012, with plans to increase spending by 13% this year to PHP20 billion to serve remote areas.
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