10 richest Filipinos on 2021 Forbes list

1. SIBLINGS: The Sy siblings collectively earned $2.7 billion (Dh9.9 billion; 134.6 billion pesos) more in 2021, pushing up their total net worth to $16.6 billion. They are heirs to the property and diversified business empire built by the late Henry Sy Sr. Put together, the total wealth of the 50 richest Filipinos grew 30% to $79 billion (around P3.9 trillion) in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. PROPERTY TYCOON: Former Senate President Manuel Villar Jr remains the richest individual in the Philippines, with an estimated net worth of $6.7 billion. Villar Jr. has been a Philippine Senator and the president of the Nacionalista Party. Villar was born to a middle class family in Tondo, an impoverished and densely-populated district of Manila. Villar is the chairman of Starmalls, one of Philippines largest mall operators, and Vista & Landscapes, the country's largest homebuilder.

3. ENRIQUE RAZON JR: $5.8 billion. Enrique Razon is the third-richest Filipino on the Forbes’ billionaires list, with a net worth estimated at $5.8 billion, a big jump from $3.4 billion in 2016. Razon heads the International Container Terminal Services, the largest operator of ports in the Philippines, with subsidiaries listed in eastern Europe, Africa and the Americas.

4. LANCE GOKONGWEI & SIBLINGS: $4 billion. After Filipino tycoon John Gokongwei Jr. died in November 2019, his children Lance (above, left), Robina, Lisa, Marcia, Faith, Hope have taken charge of running different parts of the business group. The business group includes Cebu Pacific, Robinson Retail Holdings, the Philippines’ second-largest multi-format retailer and Universal Robina Corp, one of the Philippines' largest food and beverages companies.

5. AYALA: $3.3 billion. Jaime Zobel de Ayala chaired his family's Ayala Group until retiring in 2006 when his son, Jaime II (right), took over. Now, Jaime's 7 children control more than one-third of the conglomerate. Jaime's grandfather started with a distillery in Manila, then expanded the business into banking, real estate, hotels, telecoms and education.

6. UY COUPLE: $2.8 billion. The power Filipino couple behind a company that brings high speed fiber communications to homes and offices has joined the Top 10 richest list in the Asian country. Converge ICT Solutions President and CEO Dennis Anthony Uy and his wife Maria Grace Uy, who also acts as chief financial officer, jumped to the No. 6 spot of the Forbes’ rich list for 2021.

7. TONY TAN CAKTIONG: $2.7 billion. He is the founder and chairman of Jollibee Foods Corp and co-chairs DoubleDragon Properties. Tan founded Jollibee in 1978, after having started it as an ice cream parlor in 1975. He expanded and acquired Greenwich Pizza Corp. As of August 2008, Tan's Jollibee has a total of 1,480 stores worldwide including Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Greenwich, Manong Pepe's and Mang Inasal. Tan, through his holding company, Honeystar Holdings Corp, invested in Injap Land Corp, founded by Edgar Sia II, renamed DoubleDragon Properties Corp.

8. ANDREW TAN: $2.6 billion. The Chinese-Filipino billionaire has business interests in real estate, beverage and fast food. He is chairman of industrial conglomerate Alliance Global Group, Inc., chairman and CEO of real estate developer Megaworld Corp., a non-executive chairman of Emperador Inc., and Chairman of property developer Empire East Land Holding Inc. He has various other business interests.

9. RAMON ANG: $2.3 billion. The Chinese-Filipino businessman is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Top Frontier Investment Holdings Inc., the largest shareholder of the conglomerate San Miguel Corp. He is also the Chairman of Cyber Bay Corp. and Eagle Cement Corp. San Miguel, originally a brewer, is now a leader in food and beverages — but the bulk of its revenue comes from power and infrastructure businesses.


10. TY SIBLINGS: $2.2 billion. The Ty siblings [Arthur, Alfred, Alesandra, Anjanette] are children of the late banking tycoon, George Ty, who founded Metrobank in 1963. The elder Ty later formed GT Capital, now one of Philippines biggest conglomerates with interests in banking, auto, property development, power generation and insurance.