Michel J. Lhuillier

Michel Jones Lhuillier is a Filipino businessman who founded the eponymous M Lhuillier pawnshop chain.

Early life and education Michel Jones Lhuillier was born in French Indochina (in current-day Vietnam) in 1942. His father Henry Lhuillier is French, while Angelita Escaño Jones is a Filipino who hails from Cebu. Michel starting at age seven, began helping the family business and learned skills on jewelry appraisals and bookkeeping every summer break.

Michel Lhuillier obtained a degree in liberal arts and commerce at the De La Salle College in Manila. He graduated at the University of the Philippines Cebu with a master's degree in business administration.

Career Business Michel settled in Cebu with his wife and helped maintain the family business of pawnshops and jewelry stores. He also held an executive position in the Visayan Electric Company which is managed by the Lhuilliers. The company, Michel J. Lhuillier Financial Services (Pawnshops), Inc., was laterincorporated in 1992.

The Cebu Safari and Adventure Park in Carmen, Cebu was opened in 2018 under the M Lhuillier Group.

Diplomacy Lhuillier is an honorary consul for France in the Visayas. In 2014, he was conferred the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

Sports Lhuillier was involved in the formation of a Cebu-based football team named M. Lhuillier Jewelers F.C. in 1987. The team was formed after he met with Australian coach Graeme MacKinnon. The team is known for winning the 1988 PFF National Championship.

In 2019, Lhuillier is reportedly the chairman of the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission. He met Llamas, who is of Spanish descent, while he was still a college student.

Lhuillier is a collector of exotic animals and plants which led to him opening a safari in Carmen.