Pinoy billionaires hike wealth to P4.5 trillion
The Sy sibling heirs of banking, property and retail conglomerate SM Group and housing tycoon Manuel Villar Jr. dominated Forbes Magazine’s 2023 list of the country’s top 50 richest Filipinos.
The combined wealth of Filipino tycoons swelled by 11 percent to $80 billion (P4.5 trillion) as their businesses continued to rebound from the pandemic.
But challenges lie ahead as the Forbes’ latest rich list was released on the same day the Philippine government announced disappointing economic growth figures for the second quarter of 2023 during a period of elevated inflation and interest rates.
Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at Reyes Tacandong & Co., said the country’s top tycoons have diversified holdings to shield their business portfolios during uncertain times.
“And from what we’ve learned in the past, these taipans and tycoons take these challenging times as an opportunity to expand,” he said.
The Sy siblings still top the list with a combined net worth of $14.4 billion, higher by $1.8 billion from last year. The six Sy siblings are Teresita, Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert and Harley.
Most valuable companies
They own some of the country’s most valuable companies, including SM Investments, SM Prime Holdings and BDO Unibank.
Villar, a businessman and former senator who founded Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., grew his fortune by 24 percent to $9.7 billion after taking two more firms, including Premiere Island Power REIT, public the past year.
Third on the list is Enrique Razon Jr. with a fortune of $8.1 billion. Razon owns global ports operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp.
Next on the list is Ramon Ang, president of food, drinks, energy and infrastructure conglomerate San Miguel Corp., with a fortune of $3.4 billion. Tony Tan Caktiong, founder of fast-food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp., is fifth on the list with a net worth of $3.2 billion, higher by $600 million.
Rounding out the top 10 richest Filipinos were the Aboitiz family ($3.15 billion), Lance Gokongwei and siblings ($3 billion), Isidro Consunji and siblings ($2.9 billion), Jaime Zobel de Ayala ($2.8 billion) and Lucio Tan ($2.6 billion), who took the place of Andrew Tan, who was 11th with his $2.4 billion.
Forbes said the three newcomers on the Top 50 list were the Filinvest Group’s Gotianun family ($850 million), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s Yuchengco family ($420 million) and Federico Lopez ($300 million), whose family owns First Gen Corp. and ABS-CBN Corp.
2023 Top 10 richest
- Sy siblings; $14.4 billion (+$1.8 billion)
- Manuel Villar; $9.7 billion (+$1.9 billion)
- Enrique Razon Jr.; $8.1 billion (+$2.5 billion)
- Ramon Ang; $3.4 billion (+$950 million)
- Tony Tan Caktiong; $3.2 billion (+$600 million)
- Aboitiz Family; $3.15 billion (+$250 million)
- Lance Gokongwei and siblings; $3 billion (-$100 million)
- Isidro Consunji and siblings; $2.9 billion (+$250 million)
- Jaime Zobel de Ayala; $2.8 billion (+$250 million)
- Lucio Tan; $2.6 billion (+$1.4 billion)
