The Sy siblings, heirs to the group built by the late tycoon Henry Sy Sr., took the top spot in Forbes’ Philippines 2021 rich list with a combined net worth of $16.6 billion, up $2.7 billion from the previous year.
Based on Forbes Asia’s September issue, property tycoon Manuel Villar retained the second spot with a net worth of $6.7 billion, up $1.7 billion from the previous year as his housing and office businesses remained resilient despite the pandemic.
Port and casino tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. booked a $1.5-billion increase in his wealth to remain the third richest with $5.8 billion.
Despite the devastation caused by the pandemic on the economy, the Philippines’ top 50 billionaires managed to post a strong recovery as their collective wealth jumped 30 percent to $79 billion, according to Forbes.
“Despite the ravages of COVID-19, the economy notched up double-digit growth in this year’s second quarter. Investor sentiment remained buoyant, fueling a 13-percent rise in the benchmark stock index from a year ago. The wealth of more than half the list members was up this year, with four listees adding over $1 billion each,” Forbes said.
Rounding up the list of the Philippines 10 richest billionaires are Lance Gokongwei and siblings with ($4 billion), Jaime Zobel de Ayala ($3.3 billion), Dennis Anthony and Maria Grace Uy ($2.8 billion), Tony Tan Caktiong ($2.7 billion), Andrew Tan ($2.6 billion), Ramon Ang ($2.3 billion), and Ty siblings ($2.2 billion).
Betty Ang, co-founder and president of newly-listed Monde Nissin Corp., emerged as the biggest percentage gainer. Ang climbed 20 spots to No. 18 with net worth of $1.4 billion after her company raised $1 billion from an initial public offering in June.
Other newcomers are Luis Yu Jr. (No. 32 with $445 million) and Mariano Martinez Jr. (No. 49 with $205 million), owners of mass housing firm 8990 Holdings, and Benedicto and Teresita Yujuico (No. 48 with $210 million) who benefited from the listing of DDMP REIT, an office landlord they co-own with fellow listee Edgar Sia II.
Beer and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan dropped to the 12th spot from the third spot with total net worth of $1.9 billion as the travel restrictions severely affected his airline business. Philippine Airlines last week filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States.
The list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and other sources. The net worths are based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on Aug. 20, 2021.