15 Pinoys on Forbes’ billionaires list for 2025 grew wealth to $53.7B
The 15 Filipino billionaires who made it to Forbes Magazine’s list of the world’s richest people for 2025 recorded a combined wealth of $53.7 billion, up 9 percent from 2024.
The Top 4 among them became richer after a year and offset the declines of the others who were not as lucky.
Real estate tycoon and former Sen. Manuel Villar emerged as the country’s richest individual with a net worth of $17.2 billion, ranking 117th overall worldwide as his wealth jumped from $11 billion in 2024.
Apart from Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc., Villar’s portfolio includes mass housing and memorial park developer Golden MV Holdings Inc., whose earnings reached P999.72 billion last year due to asset revaluation gains.
He was followed by ports tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. at No. 227 with $10.9 billion, also rising from $10 billion last year.
Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. was at the 979th spot with $3.7 billion, up from $3.5 billion, and taipan Lucio Tan was at 1,219th with $3 billion, also gaining from $2.5 billion in 2024.
Lessons learned
First Grade Holdings managing director Astro del Castillo explained that these tycoons were able to weather major crises in history, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing them to gain “valuable lessons.”
“Their resilience in navigating challenging times since the pandemic can be attributed to their strategic business decisions and diversified investments,” Del Castillo told the Inquirer in a text message.
Michael Ricafort, lead economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., also pointed out that their growth in fortune was faster than the economic growth of the country, which was at 5.6 percent last year.
“This is consistent with the continued growth in sales and earnings of most of the country’s largest companies,” he said.
Slow consumer spending
For the Sy siblings of the SM Group, 2024 was a challenging year.
Although still among the richest, Henry Jr. saw his wealth drop to $2.3 billion from $2.5 billion; Hans ($2.2 billion from $2.6 billion); Herbert ($2.1 billion from $2.5 billion); Harley ($1.9 billion from $2.4 billion), Teresita ($1.9 billion from $2.3 billion), and Elizabeth Sy ($1.7 billion from $2.1 billion).
According to Del Castillo, their businesses were “impacted by challenges in consumer spending and the real estate sector.”
This was also the case for Megaworld Corp. founder Andrew Tan, whose wealth fell to $1.6 billion from $2 billion, and Jollibee Group chair Tony Tan Caktiong, to $1.3 billion from $1.4 billion.
“Supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures over the past year have posed further difficulties,” Del Castillo said. “The erratic fluctuations in the stock market have also had an effect on the valuation of their net worth.”
Husband and wife Lucio and Susan Co, the business tycoons behind grocery retail chain Puregold Price Club Inc. and liquor firm The Keepers Holdings Inc., both enjoyed their second year in the coveted list.
Lucio was at the 2,356th spot and Susan at the 2,479th, with their net worth at $1.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
Filipino newcomer
Digital entertainment and education tycoon Eusebio Tanco was the newest Filipino to join Forbes’ list.
Tanco, who chairs DigiPlus Interactive Corp. and STI Education Systems Holdings, has a net worth of $1.2 billion, joining 3,028 other people in the world who made it to the list.
He has become richer than some of the tycoons who were kicked out of the list after many years, including Lance Gokongwei of JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Robinsons Retail and Cebu Pacific, and William Belo, founder of home improvement retailer Wilcon Depot Inc.
The rise in wealth of 75-year-old Tanco comes three years after the launch of BingoPlus, the live-streaming bingo platform of DigiPlus.
In 2024, DigiPlus tripled its profit to P12.6 billion on gains in its retail gaming segment, new livestreamed games and portfolio expansion. It is now headed to Brazil, where it recently secured a federal license to operate online games.
Elon tops list
Globally, Elon Musk, Tesla cofounder and senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, was named the world’s richest individual, toppling luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, a French businessman who founded and chairs LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), from the No. 1 spot.
Musk’s fortune surged by 75 percent to $342 billion, making him the first person whose net worth exceeded the $300-billion mark.
This places a huge gap between him and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose fortune was at $216 billion.
According to Forbes, its list welcomed 288 newcomers, including founders of several artificial intelligence companies.
“It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise,” Forbes Wealth senior editor Chase Peterson-Withorn said in a statement.
New milestone
Forbes has been tracking the globe for billionaires since 1987, finding 140 of them that first year.
It said it took two decades for their numbers to swell beyond 1,000 and to 2,000 in 2017.
“Now, eight years later, another milestone: 3,028 entrepreneurs, investors and heirs make up this year’s ranking, 247 more than a year ago. Not only are there more of them, but they’re richer than ever, worth $16.1 trillion in total—up nearly $2 trillion over 2024. The United States has a record 902 billionaires, followed by China (516, including Hong Kong) and India (205),” Forbes said.
