Ultra bilyonaryos got a major beatdown in a year that started with a lot of promise but ended with a lot of pain.
Based on Forbes ranking of the world’s billionaires, the 13 richest Filipinos saw their combined net worth shrink by 14.5 percent or $6.3 billion year on year to $37.4 billion as of end-2022.
(Three ultra bilyonaryos dropped out of the mega rich list – the heirs of Ricardo Po, Iñigo Zobel and Roberto V. Ongpin – as their assets dropped below the $1 billion threshold.)
This is nearly twice as big as the eight percent drop in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to 6,566.
Real estate developer Manny Villar and ports and casino builder Enrique “Ricky” K. Razon are top one and two, respectively, for the fourth straight year despite getting steamrolled.
Villar lost $200 million to $7.3 billion while Razon dropped $300 million to $6.4 billion.
Only three fattened their bank accounts in 2022 led by San Miguel Corp. boss Ramon S. Ang who jumped from No. 10 to third spot with a $600 million gain to $2.7 billion.
Lucio Tan, the oldest in the list at 88 years old, and Lance Gokongwei, the youngest at 55, gained $300 million each to $2.3 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively.
Jollibee’s Tony Tan Caktiong suffered a heavy drubbing after losing more than half of his wealth to $1.2 billion.
The six heirs of “Tatang” Henry Sy also got clobbered with total losses of $1.6 billion to $13.7 billion. Big Boy Sy accounted for half of the plunge in the family’s riches.
Here is a breakdown of how the country’s super rich tallied in 2022:
