15 Philippine tycoons led by Villar among Forbes 'World's Richest People'

MANILA, Philippines — Fifteen tycoons from the Philippines, led by property magnate Manuel Villar, made it to Forbes Magazine’s World’s Richest People for 2025.

Almost the same names made the cut this year, although the list from the country is a bit shorter than the 2024 roster, which had identified 16 local billionaires with net worth exceeding $1 billion.

One notable newcomer is Eusebio Tanco, whose wealth was buoyed by the surge in the valuation of online gaming firm Digiplus Interactive Corp.

Villar topped the list with an estimated net worth of $17.2 billion. Recently, the “brown taipan” announced that Golden MV Holdings Inc., the mass housing and memorial park developer that he leads, hit nearly P1 trillion in net profit in 2024 on gains from the assessment of its investment properties, the highest in Philippine history.

READ: Villar’s Golden MV 2024 profit surges to nearly P1T

Ranking second is ports and casino tycoon Enrique Razon, with an estimated wealth of $10.9 billion.

San Miguel Corp. chair Ramon Ang placed third with a $3.7-billion net worth, followed by Lucio Tan with $3 billion.

Sy family

All six children of the late SM group founder Henry Sy Sr. landed on the list individually: Henry Jr. ($2.3 billion); Hans ($2.2 billion), Herbert ($2.1 billion), Harley ($1.9 billion), Teresita ($1.9 billion) and Elizabeth ($1.7 billion).

Andrew Tan had $1.6 billion credited to his name, followed by Lucio Co ($1.4 billion), Susan Co ($1.3 billion), and Tony Tan Caktiong ($1.3 billion).

Tanco rounded up the list with an estimated wealth of $1.2 billion.

The list

Elon Musk tops global list

Forbes announced a record-breaking 3,028 billionaires with a collective wealth of $16.1 trillion on its 39th annual World’s Billionaires list.

Elon Musk dethroned French luxury goods titan Bernard Arnault for the top spot, as the former’s net worth grew by 75 percent to an estimated $342 billion. His jump in wealth followed big new valuations of xAI and SpaceX and a 12-month rise in Tesla stock, despite the recent selloff.

Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, is the first person on the planet to reach the $300 billion mark.

On the other hand, President Trump more than doubled his net worth to an estimated $5.1 billion, due to the upswing in shares of Trump Media & Technology Group and big cash inflows from his recent crypto ventures.

“It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise,” said Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes Senior Editor, Wealth.

“And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the U.S. government, they’re growing more and more powerful.”

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg took the No. 2 spot with an estimated net worth of $216 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos at No. 3 ($215 billion), Larry Ellison at No. 4 ($192 billion), and Bernard Arnault & family ($178 billion) rounding out the top five. - Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

(2025/04/01-23:27)