 In 1996, after grooming his eldest child, Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III to be his successor in ABS-CBN, just like his late father did to him before, Geny retired from corporate business life and let Gabby be the chairman/CEO.His second brother, Oscar, took over the leadership of the Lopez Group, which has supervision over the Lopez-owned companies from him and his third brother, Manuel became the chairman and CEO of Meralco, which he previously held.López died of cancer on June 28, 1999 in Hillsborough, California, six months before the inauguration of the Millennium Transmitter and the new office building and studio annex of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center.