Villar is richest Filipino in billionaires list

Manny Villar remains the wealthiest Filipino, retaining his place among the world’s billionaires in 2025. The real estate magnate and former senator ranked 117th on Forbes’ annual list, with a net worth of $17.2 billion.

Forbes based its rankings on stock prices and exchange rates as of 7 March. The number of billionaires grew by 247 compared to last year. Their combined wealth reached $16.1 trillion, nearly $2 trillion more than in 2024.

The United States has the most billionaires at 902, followed by China with 516, and India with 205.

Last year alone, Golden MV Holdings, the Villar family’s real estate and memorial park development firm, reported a significant increase in net income to P999.72 billion, a sharp rise from the P1.46 billion in 2023. The surge was primarily driven by fair value gains on investment properties, which totaled P1.33 trillion for the year.

Despite the increase in net income, the company’s core operations showed signs of a slowdown. Revenues dropped by 25 percent to P3.58 billion, mainly due to a 26-percent decline in real estate sales amid weaker demand for residential units. Operating profit also fell by 29 percent to P1.22 billion.

Costs and expenses were reduced by 23 percent to P2.36 billion, primarily due to a decrease in the cost of sales and services linked to lower residential unit sales.

The company’s total assets grew significantly to P1.37 trillion, up from P28.64 billion, largely reflecting the fair value gains on investment properties. Total liabilities also rose to P355 billion from P14.03 billion, driven by an increase in deferred tax liabilities.

Golden MV Holdings expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of Althorp Land Holdings Inc., Chalgrove Properties Inc. and Los Valores Corporation, which together own 366 hectares of prime land within Villar City, a 3,500-hectare development south of Manila.

Other Filipinos on the list include Enrique Razon Jr. of International Container Terminal Services Inc., who placed 227th with $10.9 billion; Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corp. who ranked 979th with $3.7 billion; and Lucio Tan at 1,219th with $3 billion.

Several members of the Sy family also made the list. Henry Sy Jr. ranked 1,573rd with $2.3 billion, followed by Hans Sy at 1,626th with $2.2 billion, and Herbert Sy at 1,688th with $2.1 billion. Harley Sy and Teresita Sy-Coson both ranked 1,850th with $1.9 billion, while Elizabeth Sy placed 2,019th with $1.7 billion.

Andrew Tan of Megaworld Corp. ranked 2,110th with $1.6 billion; Lucio Co of Puregold placed 2,356th with $1.4 billion; while Tony Tan Caktiong of Jollibee ranked 2,479th with $1.3 billion. Susan Co and Eusebio Tanco also made it to the list.

Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of $342 billion. He overtook Bernard Arnault and his family, who dropped to fifth place with $178 billion. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta ranked second with $216 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos of Amazon with $215 billion. Oracle’s Larry Ellison placed fourth with $192 billion.