The Richest Men in Philippines
by kalyani10
Even though one of the smallest counties in Asia, Philippines has a healthy economy, mainly dependent upon its ports and remittances from all over the world. Thus it comes as no surprise to find that at a time when other Asian economies are losing steam, Philippines continues to surge ahead. In the first quarter 2012, according to Forbes1, the Philippine economy grew 6.4% in the last quarter, driven by an ongoing consumer boom and a surge in tourism and outsourcing. The collective wealth of the forty richest individuals from this country grew over $13 billion to $47.4 billion. Here are some of the richest men in Philippines and how much they are worth.
- Henry Sy
The richest person in Philippines is the retail tycoon Henry Sy with a net worth of $9.1 billion as of June 2012, enough to rank him 116th on the Forbes 2012 World Billionaire List2. He controls the country's biggest retail group, which includes SM Prime, the Philippines' largest mall developer, with 42 malls. In fact recently, Sy’s Group upped the stake in Atlas Consolidated Mining, owned by another Philippine billionaire, Alfredo Ramos to 28%. Among other reported investments are ongoing negotiations with Ortigas Group for buying property assets in Manila which are supposed to be worth an estimated $1 billion.$MM-DATING3-OPTIN$
The 88 year old self-made billionaire is married and father of six children. Henry Sy lives in Manila and the Sy family fortune includes son Henry Sy Jr.'s stake in power transmission unit National Grid.
TIP: Millionaire Match has many single millionaire men looking for women to date and marry.
- Lucio Tan
With a net worth of $4.5 billion as of June 2012, Lucio Tan is the second richest man in Philippines. The source of Lucio Tan’s wealth is ttobacco even though later he went on to diversify into many areas including airline industry. In fact the recent jump in his fortunes owes to a 49% stake sale in holding company of troubled Philippine Airlines to San Miguel for a reported $500 million, in April 2012. Lucio Tank also owns part of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco, which has estimated 80% share of cigarette market. Among other assets of the tobacco king are beer maker Asia Brewery and Hong Kong-based Eton Properties.
78 year old Lucio Tan is a self made billionaire who, at one time, mopped floors to pay for school. Eventually though he went on to acquire a degree in chemical engineering and then became an entrepreneur. Married and father of six children, Lucio Tan is reported to enjoy flying helicopters in his leisure time.
- Enrique Razon Jr.
Enrique Razon Jr. entered the billionaire list only last year with $1.6 billion but is now Philippines’ third-richest person with a net worth of $3.6 billion. He made his first fortune in ports, taking over the family business, International Container Terminal Services, when aged just 27. He turned ICTS into one of the largest port operators in Asia, then expanded into Europe, North America and the Middle East. From shipping, he went on to diversify into other areas, most notably gaming for which he used $200 million of his own money to secure one of only four gaming licenses in the Philippines. His investments were well rewarded since his stake in the new hotel and casino venture Bloomberry Resorts brought him a whopping $2 billion jump in his wealth owing to a public offering in May – a gain which also catapulted Enrique Razon Jr, into the elite group of the top three wealthiest people of his country. To be managed by Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Asset Management, Bloomberry Resorts plans to open a resort casino on Manila Bay in 2013, a move that Razon hopes will position the country as a gaming destination alongside other well-known Asian gaming resorts like Macau and Singapore.
- Andrew Tan
Gambling is turning into a popular sport among the country’s billionaires. The next guy to figure on Philippine’s rich list is another billionaire who is diversifying into gaming - Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global, which partnered with Malaysia’s Genting, has the country’s only private casino in Manila, Resorts World, which opened in 2010 across from the airport. Apart from gaming, Alliance Global has interests in food and beverages, real estate and power. Net profit of the holding company surged 68% in 2011 to $280 million on booming property business. According to recent reports, the Liquor arm of the group Emperador Distillers acquired Diageo's Philippines bottling plant in May for undisclosed sum.
Though overtaken by Enrique Razon Jr., Liquor baron Andrew Tan is currently the fourth-richest person in Philippines with a net worth of $2.3 billion as of June 2012. A Former kitchen-appliance salesman, Tan made his first fortune in brandy. The 60 year old billionaire is married and father of four children.
- Eduardo Cojuangco
With a net worth of $1.4 billion, Eduardo Conjuangco retains his position as one of Philippines top five richest men. Cojuangco is founder of San Miguel, once Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerate, which now has interests in power, infrastructure, and heavy industry as well. In April it announced plans to take control of rival beermaker Lucio Tan's loss-making Philippine Airlines for $500 million.
A former Philippine ambassador and former governor of Tarlac, Cojuangco is currently the chairman emeritus of the Nationalist People's Coalition, the party he founded in 1992 which served as his vehicle to further his aspirations in the 1992 presidential elections. He has also been an advocate for sports in the country through using his company as sponsors for various events. He is notable for supporting basketball in a huge way since the 1980s. It was estimated that, at one time, his business empire accounted for 25% of the gross national product of the Philippines3 , for which he has been called "one of the country's leading businessmen".
Cojuangco is married to Soledad "Gretchen" Oppen and they have four children. However presently the 77 year old billionaire is rumored to be in ill health.
References:
- Log in to post comments
