[7] Forbes states that while in college, Tan "worked as a janitor at a tobacco factory"[8] where he "mopped floors to pay for school.

[10] Founder Benjamin M. Bitanga of the aviation support services company MacroAsia Corporation sold it to Tan in 1995.

[16] In the 1990s, Tan was president of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Institute Foundation (LRMFI), an organization established in 1989 and composed of Chinese-Filipino Catholics that aims to spread the Christian faith worldwide.

[17] In the 1990s, Forbes reported about the "considerable corruption still prevalent" in the Philippines, bolstering that claim by citing how Tan "single-handedly held up a tax reform intended to remove special privileges for local tobacco and beer producers.

"[19] However, the 25 billion-peso (US$ 622 million) tax evasion case against Tan was dismissed in March of 1999, after simmering through the terms of presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos.

[citation needed] The PCGG also alleged that the companies that Tan held in trust for the former president Marcos – such as Fortune Tobacco, Asia Brewery, Allied Banking Corporation, Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries, Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings, Dominium Realty and Construction Corp., and Shareholdings Inc. – were illegally acquired by Marcos using government funds.

[23] In 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte accused Tan of owing the Philippine government around US$600 million in unpaid taxes, but subsequently decided to stop discussing the issue.