Lopez 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 again 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 of its affiliates were forcibly taken over by the Marcos government. During this period and following his education, Lopez was 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, Lopez started with ABS-CBN as director of finance. He was appointed general manager a year later. 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. He created the Lopez Communications Group (CommGroup) in 1997. CommGroup is the management committee that oversees the development and implementation of convergence strategies for ABS-CBN,
BayanTel,
Sky Cable, and the Lopez 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. On September 24, 2020, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing his resignation as chairman emeritus and director of ABS-CBN and as director of ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation, Sky Vision Corporation,
Sky Cable Corporation,
First Philippine Holdings Corporation, First Gen Corporation, and Rockwell Land Corporation. ==Personal life==