Heirs of mall tycoon, the late Henry Sy, were named as the country’s richest, earning a net worth of $12.6 billion from its diversified enterprises, based on the latest tally of Philippines’ 50 Richest 2022 of business bible Forbes Magazine.
The Sy Siblings run the SM Group, hailed as one of Southeast Asia’s biggest conglomerates with diversified interests in malls, real estate, supermarkets and banks.
The family also owns BDO Unibank, the country’s largest bank. Comprising the Henry Sy clan are Teresita Sy-Coson, chairperson of BDO Unibank and co-vice chair of SM Investments; Elizabeth Sy who heads SM Hotels and Conventions; Henry Sy Jr., chairperson of SM Prime and co-vice chairperson of SM Investments; Hans Sy, chair of SM Prime’s executive committee and China Banking Corp.; Herbert Sy, director of SM Prime; and Harley Sy, executive director of SM Investments, director of China Banking, and adviser to BDO Unibank.
Trailing the Sys is real estate magnate Manuel “Manny” Villar, the husband of Senator Cynthia Villar, and father of Senator Mark Villar, with a total net worth of P7.8 billion, followed by shipping mogul Enrique Razon Jr., also the chairman and president of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), with a net worth of $5.6 billion.
Combined wealth: $72B
Fourth on the list of Forbes is the owner of Universal Robina Corporation and Robinson’s Mall Lance Gokongwei and his siblings, with $3.1 billion; the Aboitiz family that is involved in construction and engineering businesses with a net worth of $2.9 billion; while those in the 6th to the 10th spot are Isidro Consunji and siblings ($2.65 billion, 6th); Tony Tan Caktiong and family of Double Dragon and Jollibee Foods Corporation ($2.6 billion, 7th); Jaime Zobel de Ayala and family ($2.55 billion, 8th); San Miguel Corporation chairperson Ramon Ang ($2.45 billion, 9th), and Megaworld Corporation’s Andrew Tan ($2.4 billion, 10th).
Other multi-billionaires included in the 11th to 15th spots are Lucio Tan ($2 billion), Ty siblings ($1.9 billion), Dennis Anthony and Maria Grace Uy ($1.75 billion), Lucio and Susan Co ($1.7 billion) and Hartono Kweefanus and family with $1.5 billion net worth.
Forbes said the combined wealth of the 50 richest people in the Philippines dropped to $72 billion from $79 billion last year which was attributed to the headwinds brought about by the pandemic.
“Nonetheless, the pressures of inflation, rising commodity, and energy prices, as well as reduced exports to China, dragged the benchmark stock index down six percent from 11 months ago when fortunes were last measured. The peso also plunged 12 percent over the same period,” Forbes said in its issue.
The list of Filipino businessmen in the Forbes list was made known days after the Social Weather Station released its survey, saying that around 12.2 million Filipino families felt “poor” in the second quarter of the year, a significant increase from the 10.9 million Filipino families who felt they were underprivileged in the first quarter of the year.