Ricky Razon Jr emerges as Philippines' richest on Forbes 2026 list with $16.6 billion — Who’s next on the list?

Manila: Picture this: a college dropout, once sweating it out as a humble ports worker, now reigns supreme as the Philippines' undisputed richest man.

Enrique "Ricky" Razon Jr. has stormed to the top of Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list, leaving a trail of stunned tycoons in his wake.

But wait — there's a seismic twist.

Just recently, Razon's Prime Energy struck a jackpot off Palawan: a monstrous natural gas wildcat that could rewrite the nation's energy future.

Owned by his powerhouse Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra), this gusher isn't just luck — it's a game-changer that could propel Razon's empire to stratospheric heights.

As visionary chairman of global ports behemoth International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), Bloomberry Resorts Corp., water giant Manila Water Co. Inc., and now this energy titan, Razon crushes 15 rival Filipino moguls.

He's the lone Pinoy warrior in the global top 200 — at No. 175 with $16.5 billion in the bank.

Trailing him are San Miguel Corp. chairman and CEO Ramon Ang at No. 1,189 ($3.6 billion) and LT Group chairman Lucio Tan at No. 1,223 ($3.5 billion).

Real estate and retail magnate Manuel Villar, last year's top Filipino at No. 117 globally, ranks fourth locally at No. 1,376 with $3.1 billion.

The Sy family dominates the next spots: Henry Sy Jr. at No. 1,676 ($2.5 billion), Hans Sy and Herbert Sy tied at No. 2,274 ($1.8 billion each), and Harley Sy tied with Andrew Tan of Alliance Global at No. 2,386 ($1.7 billion each).

Lucio Co of retail and BDO Unibank's Teresita Sy-Coson share No. 2,481 ($1.6 billion each).

Elizabeth Sy and Susan Co of Puregold tie at No. 2,600 ($1.5 billion each).

Rounding out the list are Jollibee Group's Tony Tan Caktiong at No. 3,185 ($1.1 billion) and STI Education Systems Holdings chairman Eusebio Tanco at No. 3,332 ($1 billion).

Prime Energy, a natural gas exploration and development company based in the Philippines, is the operator of the Malampaya Deep Water Gas-to-Power Project (Service Contract 38), currently the Philippines' only indigenous natural gas field.

The project supplies approximately 20% of the power needs of Luzon mainland (population: about 66 million).

Forbes notes a record 3,428 billionaires this year, up 400 from 2025 — the largest list since 1987 — with combined wealth of $20.1 trillion, rising from $16.1 trillion last year.

The US leads with 989 billionaires, followed by mainland China (539) and India (229).

Elon Musk tops the global list for the second straight year at $839 billion, the first to hit $800 billion and eyeing trillionaire status.

Google co-founder Larry Page ranks second ($257 billion), Sergey Brin third ($237 billion), Jeff Bezos fourth ($224 billion), and Mark Zuckerberg fifth ($222 billion).