Manny Villar remains Philippines’ richest, with net worth at P282.9 billion: Forbes

MANILA – Former Senate President Manny Villar remains the richest person in the Philippines with a net worth of $5.6 billion or P282.9 billion, Forbes said on Tuesday in its annual ranking of the world’s richest people.

The former senator is ranked 565 in Forbes’ list of billionaires.

Villar, who helms a real estate empire, is followed by ports magnate Enrique Razon with an estimated net worth of $3.4 billion or P171.7 billion.

The heirs of the late mall tycoon Henry Sy round up the Philippines’ top 5 with Hans Sy and Herbert Sy having net worths of $2 billion each and Harley Sy with $1.9 billion.

Sitting at the top of the global list is Jeff Bezos, founder of e-commerce behemoth Amazon, with a net worth of $113 billion, followed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $98 billion. Rounding up the top 3 is Bernard Arnault of luxury goods company LVMH with $76 billion.

Forbes noted that the COVID-19 pandemic that put whole economies in suspended animation has also affected the ranks of the world’s richest.

“There are 2,095 billionaires on the 2020 ranking, down from 2,153 in 2019. The total combined net worth of this year’s billionaires is $8 trillion, down from $8.7 trillion in 2020,” Forbes said.

The media company also noted that “amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the world’s wealthiest are serving as agents of change and taking action to reinvent their businesses to aid in the global response to the coronavirus outbreak.”

“Billionaires like tech tycoon Bill Gates; Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom; Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and a host of others are using their financial resources to help combat the health crisis and boost the economy.”