25/08/2026
๐ฃ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ & ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ
I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine who works as a Branch Manager at one of the commercial banks in Port Moresby.
During our conversation, he shared a story that really caught my attention and got me thinking about the way some of the PNG's Business Tycoons operate.
According to him, PNG has close to 300 major business tycoons. Of those, about 34 are women. He said around 78 of these individuals have net worths reaching into Billions of Kina.
He explained that the top 78 largely come from business backgrounds, with their wealth generated primarily through their business activities.
He added that many of these Business Elites have created thousands of employment opportunities. Yet many of these Business Elites remain unknown to the general public.
He made an interesting observation that out of the 78 people whose wealth is reportedly reaching Billions of Kina, only about three are widely known and recognised by Papua New Guineans. The remaining 75 Business Tycoons, he said, are people you may never hear about. Their financial status, personal lives and business operations are largely kept away from public attention.
Then he told me a story about a woman that demonstrated this perfectly.
She goes by the name of Delman Konda from Tambul in Western Highlands Province who Worked for 23 Years in a locally owned company in Port Moresby but she never knew the Owner of the company until she resigned.
She was employed by this particular company when she was 27 years old.
She continued working for the company as the years went by. While working there, she got married and eventually had four children. At the age of 45, she was promoted to operational Manager.
Throughout those years, she believed that the Chief Executive Officer of the company was the owner of the company.
The CEO made major financial decisions, attended important meetings, represented the company and appeared to be the person running everything. To the employees, the CEO was the face and authority of the organisation.
At the age of 54, after 23 years of serving the company, the woman decided it was time to retire and formally resigned from the company.
The company organised a farewell function for her at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby in June 2023.
The CEO attended the function and delivered a speech, acknowledging her long service and contribution to the company. After the formalities, everyone relaxed, socialised, celebrated her retirement and wished her well.
While she was seated among the guests, an unfamiliar man walked over and sat beside her.
He was carrying a small box, more like a present.
The man congratulated her for serving the company for 23 years. He told her that he had heard her name and knew about her contribution to the company, but had never had the opportunity to meet her personally.
After speaking with her for a short while, he handed her the small box.
He told her that he had specifically come to present it to her and instructed her to take it home and open it with her family.Then he left. He did not introduce himself whatsoever, he only mentioned his first name.
According to the woman, none of the employees at the function appeared to know who he was except the CEO.
She then noticed something even more interesting. The CEO personally escorted the man to the car park. After the man left, the CEO returned to the function.
The woman went home that evening with the box presented to her. When she opened the box with her family at home, she was shocked.
Inside the box was a car key and a letter bearing the companyโs logo. The letter contained instructions about where she could collect her new vehicle. It also outlined the retirement package the company had prepared for her.
She could hardly sleep that night.Early next morning, she went to collect her new car.
Then, about three weeks later, the exact amount stated in the retirement letter was deposited into her bank account.
Still trying to understand what had happened, she eventually went to the CEO's office and asked him:
โWho was the man who came and gave me the gift at the farewell function?โ
The CEO hesitated at first. Eventually, he told her:
โThe man who came and gave you the gift is the owner of the company.โ
The woman was in complete shock.After working for the company for almost 23 years, she had never known the actual owner.
She had spent more than two decades believing that the CEO was the owner because he was the person she saw running the company. But the real owner had remained behind the scenes.
Not long afterwards, the woman noticed several unfamiliar transactions involving her bank account. Concerned, she went to this commercial bank to make enquiries. That was where my friend became involved.
Interestingly, the bank officer who assisted her happened to be her tambu, or brother-in-law.
While assisting her, he noticed four transactions involving several amounts of money.
He asked her where that huge money had come from and she knew about the four transactions.
She explained that it was part of her retirement package from her former employer.
Some weeks later, the two met again at a gathering. They discussed the transactions issues and the unusual circumstances surrounding the money.
That was when she told him the full story.
She explained that she had worked for the company for almost 23 years, had never met the actual owner and had always assumed that the CEO was the owner.
This brother of mine was amazed by the story.
And that story is what he eventually shared with me.
The whole point behind me sharing this story on social media is that, there are successful business people you may never know.
PNG has successful business tycoons whose names you may never see trending on social media.
Their businesses are run by professionals, managers, CEOs, executives and directors. They may rarely appear publicly, rarely give interviews and may have little interest in receiving public praise.
They build businesses, employ people, provide services and generate wealth but they do not necessarily need everyone to know who they are and proof to people that they own these types of businesses.
They stay behind the business, watch carefully and allow the people they employ to represent the organisation.
That is very different from what we see today on social media platforms.
In this times where social media becomes the centre of attention, some emerging entrepreneurs and SME owners seem eager to make themselves the centre of attention. Every new achievement, every small business milestone, every purchase and every development is immediately posted on social media in search of praise, recognition and validation.
There is nothing wrong with promoting your business brand, it is called branding. Marketing matters. Visibility matters. Building a strong brand matters.
But there is also wisdom in knowing when to step back. You do not always have to be the face of everything you build.
Sometimes, the strongest position is to hide yourself behind your business. Let people search who is the owner of this company/business.
Employ capable people. Give them the authority to represent your company. Let your managers, communications team and professional representatives do the talking on your behalf and on behalf of your business.
Your business should become known for what it does not simply because of how often its owner appears on social media.
History also teaches us that wealth, power and glory are temporary. Even the great Babylon, described in the Bible as a city of immense wealth and splendour, eventually fell.
Pride and excessive attention on social media can become distractions and brings jealousy.
Perhaps the current emaging entrepreneurs & SME owners should learn from the story i just shared above, some business tycoons in PNG whose companies employ thousands, provide essential services and generate enormous wealth, yet their names and faces remain unknown.
You may walk into a company, speak to its CEO, interact with its employees and spend years working there and still never know who actually owns the business.
That may be the real meaning of success, building something so strong that it does not need your constant presence on Social Media to prove to the World that you are successful or you are the example of success or that you can change lives.
Real business tycoons understand that success does not always need to be displayed especially by the business owner.
Sometimes, the smartest person in the world of business is the one nobody notices because he doesn't want to be seen publicly.
โ๏ธโ๏ธ Albert Moses
