Napoleon Nazareno, a veteran of the Philippine telecommunications industry, has died at the age of 77.
"With the heaviest of hearts, we share the passing of our beloved Napoleon ‘Polly’ L. Nazareno — loving husband, father, grandfather, friend and a man whose life was marked by purpose, faith, and love,” his daughter Apple Nazareno Faraon said in a social media post.
“Polly joined our Creator on a snowy evening, after suffering from a spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage at the McKenzie Richmond Hill Hospital in Toronto surrounded by the warm love of his family.”
Nazareno is known for being president and CEO of PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications and several subsidiaries from 2000-2015.
He also served as director at Manila Electric Co. PLDT Global Corp., Mabuhay Satellite Corp., among others, and was a non-executive director of First Pacific, the Hong Kong company that is the controlling shareholder of PLDT.
He was a member of the board of Security Bank Corp. and an independent director of Paymongo Philippines Inc.
He received his Master’s degree in Business Management from Asian Institute of Management, and was conferred a Doctor of Technology degree (Honoris Causa) by the University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
Nazareno’s family said his cremated remains would be at Santuario de San Antonio Parish, Forbes Park Makati from March 25-27.