Sy siblings, Villar lead Forbes list of richest Filipinos

The average age of billionaires in the 2019 Forbes Philippines Rich List is getting younger as second generations take over businesses while young entrepreneurs make start showing their worth.

This year’s list is led by the Sy siblings who make it to the list for the first time, replacing their late father Henry Sy Sr. who held the position for 11 consecutive years.

They have a combined net worth of US$17.2 billion, stemming largely from the family’s SM group, the country’s largest conglomerate.

Second in the list is housing developer and emerging retail magnate Manuel B. Villar with a net worth of $6.6 billion. Villar is now the richest individual in the list and his fortunes will soon be boosted further when his home improvement business goes public.

The original taipans are represented in the list by John Gokongwei Jr., with a net worth of $5.3 billion from his stake in JG Summit empire, as well as Lucio Tan who has a net worth of $3.6 billion from his conglomerate which includes liquor, tobacco and airline businesses.

Second generation tycoons who replaced their patriarchs in the list include the Ty siblings of GT Capital, the Consunji siblings of diversified engineering conglomerate DMCI Holdings, the Que siblings of Mercury Drug, and the Campos siblings who are heirs of Jose Campos.

Leading three self-made entrepreneurs who debuted in the list is logistics and energy tycoon Dennis Uy who ranks No. 22 on the list with a net worth of $660 million.

Delfin Wenceslao (No. 25) makes his debut with a net worth of $500 million after taking real estate developer D.M. Wenceslao & Associates public while Antonio Lee Tiu is ranked No. 49 with a net worth of $135 million as shares of AgriNurture rose steadily over the past three years.

One of the biggest gainers on this year’s list is Mercedes Gotianun (No. 12), whose wealth surged 91 percent to $2.2 billion as shares in Filinvest Development soared.

There are five returnees this year including Tomas Alcantara (No. 33, $300 million) of Alsons Consolidated Resources; Eusebio Tanco (No. 41, $205 million) of STI Education Systems; Erramon Aboitiz (No. 43, $165 million) of Aboitiz Equity Ventures; Philip Ang (No. 44, $160 million) of Nickel Asia and Bienvenido Tantoco (No. 48, $140 million) of SSI Group.

The list was compiled using information from the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private databases, government agencies and other sources. Net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on September 6.

Private companies were valued by using financial ratios and other comparisons with similar publicly traded companies.

Since 2017, the list no longer includes families in which the founder of the business has died, unless the successors are wealthy enough to make the cut off individually; in these cases, inherited fortunes are combined.

The complete list can be found at www.forbes. com/philippines.