Born to Juan Cabreros Laya, noted author and Silvina del Carmen, an educator who were the founders of the Philippine publishing house, "Kayumanggi Press". In 1957, Laya graduated magna cum laude with a degree in business administration from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Later, he took up a master's degree in industrial management from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He did his graduate studies in finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business of Stanford University from which he graduated with a doctoral degree in 1965. He was married to Alicia Laya, who later died during the 1990 earthquake in Baguio City.