López became the chairman in 1997 and chief executive officer in 1993 of ABS-CBN Corporation. He was interim president of the company from 1993 to 1997 and 2006 to 2008. ABS-CBN has enjoyed network supremacy since its founding in 1953, apart from the years 1972 to 1986, when the company and all its affiliates were wrested from the Lópezes by the Marcos government. During this period and following his education, López employed at the Crocker National Bank, where he served as assistant vice president in the bank's back-office processing area. He had an undistinguished banking career in the United States while waiting for work in his family's media and utility interests in the Philippines. When control of the company was restored by the Aquino administration in 1986, López started with ABS-CBN as director of finance. He was appointed general manager a year later and the network regained its supremacy shortly after. Under his leadership, ABS-CBN enjoyed steady growth, while aggressively pursuing diversification. These include interactive media, sound recording, post-production, international cable and satellite distribution, sports programming and licensing and merchandising. A visionary, he created the López Communications Group in 1997. CommGroup is the management committee that oversees the development and implementation of convergence strategies for ABS-CBN, BayanTel, Sky Cable, and the López Group's investments in telecommunications and cable telephony and data warehousing across the three companies. He is also the chairman and chief executive officer of CommGroup. In 2012, he retired as CEO of ABS-CBN and was succeeded by the ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio. He stepped down as chairman of the conglomerate six years later, being elected as chairman emeritus on April 18, 2018. His cousin, Martin "Mark" L. López, who served as the company's chief technology officer, was elected as the new chairman of the board.
Dual citizenship
López' citizenship was put into question as part of the renewal process of ABS-CBN Corporation's broadcast franchise. It was alleged that López solely held American citizenship, violating the 1987 Constitution's provision that media companies should be fully Filipino-owned, and that he supposedly gained Filipino citizenship when he applied for recognition as a Filipino national in 2001. The Phillipine Department of Justice ruled that López is a natural-born Filipino since the 1935 Constitution automatically conferred him Filipino citizenship as both of his parents were Filipino while also having American citizenship due to the United States' jus soli nationality law. His usage of a United States passport was also ruled irrelevant to his Filipino citizenship.
Recognitions
2014 Tanglaw ng Araw Award, 9th Araw Values Awards
