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The Chair’s Desk, Ayala Tower One

My profile of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala appears in the Star’s business section today. It covers rugby, tennis, crew, and oh right, business.

“Zobel discovered rugby at the British boarding schools he attended when his father Jaime, Senior was the Philippine Ambassador to the Court of Saint James. In his teens he played county-level rugby in Sussex and dislocated his kneecap five times. “I’ll be frank with you, the first time my kneecap popped out was not on a rugby pitch,” he laughs. “It was on a grass court, while playing tennis. My foot went one way, my body went another. . .”

“Contact sports were out of the question by the time he got to college, so he joined the Harvard rowing team. “I did lightweight crew for three-quarters of a season, but the pressure of training was so intense that I quit. That’s one of my big regrets. Recently I told my son, ‘If you’re ever at the point of giving something up, give me a call.'” (His son is now on the Harvard rugby team.)”

The profile is now on the Harvard Business School website.