The country’s uber rich enjoyed massive gains in in the first month of 2023 amid growing optimism on the economy.
The 14 Filipinos on Forbes list of billionaires posted a nine percent gain month on month in their combined wealth to $42 billion in January. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose by 3.4 percent to 6,793 during the same period.
Former Senate president Manny Villar was the biggest gainer with a 16 percent rise in his fortune to $8.5 billion.
Villar’s memorial park and mass housing arm Golden MV Holdings, which accounts for 90 percent of his net worth, jumped 10 percent to P720 last month.
Enrique “Ricky” Razon Jr. grew his wealth by 11 percent to $7 billion mainly due to the 18 percent surge in his casino hotel business, Bloomberry, to P9.50.
Lance Gokongwei also boosted his wealth by 15 percent to $1.5 billion with his JG Summit up six percent, Robinsons Retail Holdings up eight percent, and Robinson Land Corp. up four percent.
The Sy siblings jacked up their total net assets by six percent to $14.5 billion from impressive gains of BDO Unibank (up seven percent) and SM Prime Holdings (up six percent).
Betty Ang regained her billionaire status after Monde Nissin jumped 25 percent.
This is how the Filipino billionaires stacked up in January 2023:
