A new generation of tycoons entered Forbes magazine’s 2019 Philippines Rich list on Wednesday, September 25, with the children of late tycoon Henry Sy nabbing the top spot with their combined net worth of $17.2 billion.
The Sy siblings — Teresita (Sy-Coson), Elizabeth, Henry “Big Boy” Jr., Hans, Herbert, and Harley — replaced their father in holding the No. 1 position in Forbes’ list after the SM group patriarch passed away early this year. Henry Sy was the country’s richest man for 11 consecutive years.
The Ty siblings of GT Capital — Arthur, Alfred, Alesandra and Anjanette — also debuted on the list, placing 9th with a combined net worth of $2.6 billion.
“They succeeded their father George Ty, who built GT into a major conglomerate with interests in autos, banking, insurance, power generation and real estate,” Forbes noted.
The list can be found at www.forbes.com/philippines and in the October issue of Forbes Asia. Included in the top top 10 richest in the Philippines are:
• Sy siblings; U.S.$17.2 billion
• Manuel Villar; $6.6 billion
• John Gokongwei, Jr.; $5.3 billion
• Enrique Razon, Jr.; $5.1 billion
• Jaime Zobel de Ayala; $3.7 billion
• Lucio Tan; $3.6 billion
• Tony Tan Caktiong; $3 billion
• Ramon Ang; $2.8 billion
• Ty siblings; $2.6 billion
• Andrew Tan; $2.55 billion.
The Campos siblings — Jocelyn, Joselito and Jeffrey — entered the list at No. 23 with their combined net worth of $650 million, replacing their late family matriarch Beatrice Campos of pharmaceutical giant Unilab.
“The Sy, Ty and Campos siblings are among the six newcomers on the list which also included three self-made entrepreneurs,” Forbes said.
One of the self-made entrepreneurs is logistics and energy tycoon Dennis Uy who made the list after net assets of his Udenna group rose 28 percent in 2018. He placed 22nd on the list with a net worth of $660 million.
Forbes also noted the 21 of the 50 billionaires that added to their fortunes.
“They included Manuel Villar, who remains at No. 2 with a net worth of $6.6 billion, John Gokongwei, Jr., who retains his No. 3 spot with $5.3 billion, up from $4.4 billion, and Enrique Razon, Jr., who rose one position to No. 4 at $5.1 billion, up from $3.9 billion,” it said.
Meanwhile, among the listees who saw their fortunes decline is Tony Tan Caktiong (No. 7), whose net worth was down $850 million to $3 billion after his fast food chain Jollibee took a hit in July 2019 after announcing the $350-million acquisition of loss-making Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.
Forbes’ 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.
