Real estate tycoon Manuel Villar Jr. retained its top spot as the country’s richest with a net worth of $8.3 billion, based on Forbes’ 36th-annual ranking of the world’s richest people.
The number of Filipino billionaires for 2022 also increased to 20 from the previous year’s 17.
Villar, primarily engaged in real estate and retail development under several listed firms, is ranked 263 worldwide, a significant jump from his last year’s standing of 352.
Ports and gaming tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. came in second with total net worth of $6.7 billion followed by Henry Sy Jr. with total net worth of $2.8 billion.
Andrew Tan, who owns diversified businesses including real estate, gaming and quick service restaurants, placed fourth with a total net worth of $2.8 billion.
Sy siblings Hans ($2.6 billion), Herbert ($2.6 billion), Harley ($2.4 billion), Teresita Sy-Coson ($2.4 billion) and Elizabeth ($2.1 billion) as well as San Miguel Corp. president Ramon S. Ang ($2 billion) rounded up the list of top 10 Filipino billionaires.
Other Filipinos who made it to the list include JG Summit Holdings Corp. president Lance Gokongwei ($1.6 billion) Jollibee Food Corp. chairman Tony Tan Caktiong ($1.3 billion), Monde Nissin Corp. president Betty Ang ($1.2 billion), and LT Group chairman Lucio Tan ($1.2 billion), Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions, Inc., (CNVRG) founder Maria Grace Uy ($1.2 billion), the Genomal brothers, Nari, Ramesh, and Sunder ($1 billion each), Alphaland Corp. chairman Roberto V. Ongpin ($1 billion) and Converge ICT co-founder Dennis Uy ($1 billion).
In total, Forbes listed 2,668 billionaires worldwide with a total net worth of $12.7 trillion.
This figure is lower by $400 billion compared to 2021 as the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in fewer Russian billionaires.
China’s crackdown on tech companies also led to 87 fewer Chinese billionaires on the list.