Self-made taipan and former senator Manuel Villar emerged as the only Filipino to make it to Forbes Magazine’s world’s top 200 billionaires for 2024.
Forbes reported that Villar, a former Senate President now managing his property and retail businesses full time, is the 190th richest man in the world.
He is hundreds of billions behind this year’s No. 1, Bernard Arnault and his family, with a net worth of $233 billion.
Arnault is head of LVMH, the luxury fashion and cosmetics conglomerate in France bannered by Louis Vuitton, and his family is usually in the top three of Forbes’ wealthiest people in the world lists.
The wealthiest woman on the billionaires list comes in at No. 15: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal. As the richest woman in the world, she is worth $99.5 billion.
Villar grew his fortune to $11 billion from $8.6 billion in 2023 as he chairs several listed firms, including his biggest assets Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. and Golden MV Holdings, a developer of mass housing projects and memorial parks.
“Villar is diversifying his business with new investments in free-to-air TV and plans to build a casino and a theme park in southern Metro Manila,” the magazine said.
Filipino-Chinese dominated the top 10 of the country’s list of dollar billionaires, as ports and gaming tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. came in second, with his net worth rising to $10 billion from $7.3 billion in 2023.
San Miguel Corp. president and chief executive officer Ramon S. Ang was third with a net worth of $3.5 billion, up from $3.4 billion.
Next on the PH list are the SM “Sy-blings” Hans Sy ($2.6 billion), Henry Sy Jr. and Herbert Sy ($2.5 billion), tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan ($2.5 billion), Harley Sy ($2.4 billion), Teresita Sy-Coson ($2.3 billion), and Elizabeth Sy ($2.1 billion).
Megaworld Corp. chairman Andrew Tan ($2 billion), Jollibee Foods Corp. chairman Tony Tan Caktiong ($1.4 billion), and JG Summit Holdings corp. chairman Lance Gokongwei ($1.1 billion) rounded up the country’s top 10.
There are more people on the Forbes list than ever — and they’re richer than ever. There are 141 more billionaires in the world than last year, with 2,781 in total. Their combined worth equals $14.2 trillion — up by $2 trillion in 2023.
The 2024 list also broke records set in 2021, with 26 more billionaires on the list and their combined net worth up by $1.1 trillion.
Billionaires themselves are also wealthier, with two-thirds adding to their worth. The top 20 on the list gained the most, adding $700 billion to their combined worth since 2023. And the U.S. has a record 813 billionaires — the most of any country.
China has 473 billionaires and India has 200, which set a record for that country.
Other famous names on the list include:
· No. 100. Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch and his family, worth $19.5 billion
· 137. Dallas Cowboys General Manager and President Jerry Jones, worth $13.9 billion
· 1,330. Jay-Z, worth $2.5 billion
· 1,851. Kim Kardashian, worth $1.7 billion
· 2,545. Taylor Swift, worth $1.1 billion
To tally their wealth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024.
