Retail tycoon Henry Sy maintained his ranking as the country’s wealthiest person for the 11th straight year with a net worth of $18.3 billion, according to Forbes Asia magazine’s 2018 list of 50 richest Filipinos.
Former Senate president Manuel Villar trebled his net worth over the past year to $5 billion from $1.6 billion to make him the country’s second richest, dislodging tycoon John Gokongwei.
Villar significantly increased his net worth, as the share price of Golden Bria, which is engaged in memorial parks and mass housing business, surged 1,300 percent in the first quarter.
“Investors saw in the mix a basis for the magnate building telecom infrastructure, an especially attractive play,” the magazine said.
Gokongwei moved to third with a net worth of $4.4 billion, followed by Jaime Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Corp. with $4 billion and ports and casino operator Enrique Razon with $3.9 billion.
Rounding up the top 10 are Jollibee’s Tony Tan Caktiong ($3.85 billion), beer and tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan ($3.8 billion), San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang ($2.85 billion), Metrobank’s George Ty ($2.75 billion) and Alliance Global Group chairman Andrew Tan ($2.6 billion).
Forbes said the ranking of the country’s top 50 richest faced volatility, as 19 tycoons saw their net worth shift 20 percent or more over the past year.
Seven newcomers made to the top 50 list, including Isidro Consunji and his siblings (No. 12 with $2.45 billion) who replaced their founder father, David, who died in September; William Belo (No. 22 with $600 million) of big-box chain Wilcon Depot; Necisto Sytengco (No. 41 with $180 million) of chemical-trading outfit SBS Philippines; Alberto Villarosa (No. 42 with $170 million) and Rafael Simpao (No. 44 with $155 million) of Security Bank; self-made fashion designer Josie Natori (No. 45 with $150 million) and Jerry Liu (No. 46 with $145 million) of semiconductor maker Cirtek Holdings.
This year’s list saw 27 fortunes decline including those of Betty Ang (No. 32 with $270 million) of noodle giant Monde Nissin, who lost 70 percent of her wealth on a sharp fall in net income, according to the company’s latest available annual report.
The wealth of media tycoons Gilberto Duavit (No. 48 with $135 million), Menardo Jimenez (No. 49 with $130 million) and Felipe Gozon (No. 50 with $125 million) also fell, as shares of GMA Network dropped 11 percent.
Forbes said mining magnates Philip Ang and Luis Virata were dropped off the list as the mining sector suffered from tighter state regulations on nickel extraction and increased competition from Indonesia.
The list of the country’s wealthiest was compiled using information from the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private data bases, government agencies and other sources.
Net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on Aug. 24, 2018.
Private companies were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar publicly traded companies.