FILE PHOTO: Real estate mogul Manuel Villar Jr.
MANILA, Philippines — Real estate mogul Manuel Villar Jr. topped the roster of 14 Filipino billionaires who landed on Forbes Magazine’s 2023 World’s Billionaires List.
Villar, the founder of property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., AllDay Marts Inc. supermarkets and Vistamalls Inc., has a net worth of $8.6 billion, making him the 232nd richest person in the world. The No. 2 richest Filipino is Enrique Razon Jr., owner of ports operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. and casino company Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
Razon has a net worth of $7.3 billion, according to Forbes.
San Miguel Corp. (SMC) president Ramon Ang, with a fortune of $3.4 billion, is the country’s third richest man.
SMC is one of the country’s largest conglomerates with interests spanning food and beverage, energy, and infrastructure.
Henry Sy Jr., vice chair of property, banking, and retail conglomerate SM Investments Corp., is the country’s fourth richest man with a net worth of $2.5 billion.
Sy, whose sisters and brothers are also part of the Forbes rich list, is the chair of Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc., which controls the country’s power transmission operator, National Grid Corp. of the Philippines. He shares the No. 4 spot with Andrew Tan, founder of conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc., a property, beverage, gaming, and fast food holding company.
Siblings Hans Sy and Herbert Sy, who each have a net worth of $2.4 billion, occupy the No. 5 spot on the Forbes rich list. Sharing the No. 5 spot is taipan Lucio Tan with a net worth of $2.4 billion.
Siblings Harley Sy and Teresita Sy-Coson, each with a net worth of $2.2 billion, share the No. 6 spot on the list. Their sister Elizabeth Sy, occupying the No. 7 spot, has a net worth of $1.9 billion. Elizabeth is an adviser of SM Investments Corp. and plays an active role in the group’s tourism, leisure and hospitality operations. She is the current chair and president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.
At No. 8 is Lance Gokongwei with a net worth of $1.4 billion.
Gokongwei, the only son of the late taipan John Gokongwei Jr., is the CEO of JG Summit Holdings, a conglomerate with interests that span food and beverage, real estate, airlines, telecommunications, power, and electricity distribution.
Jollibee founder Tony Tan Caktiong, with a fortune of $1.2 billion, is the country’s 9th richest man.
At No. 10 is Iñigo Zobel with a fortune of $1 billion, mainly from his stake in San Miguel, where he sits as a board director. He also has a stake in the country’s oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corp., which is controlled by his relatives.
According to Forbes, French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault tops the world’s billionaires ranking for the first time, with an estimated net worth of $211 billion. He dislodged American tech billionaire Elon Musk, who dropped to the No. 2 spot with a net worth of $180 billion.
The latest Forbes rich list counted 2,640 global billionaires, down from 2,668 last year, with a combined net worth of $12.2 trillion.