Henry Sy’s heirs top 2019 list of richest in PH – Forbes

MANILA, Philippines – The children of the late SM Group founder Henry Sy Sr. have emerged as the richest in the country in 2019, according to Forbes magazine.
Forbes’ list of Philippines’ 50 Richest, which was released on Wednesday, showed the Sy heirs claiming the top spot with a combined net worth of $17.2 billion, displacing property magnate and former Senator Manny Villar to second.
Sy held the top spot for 11 consecutive years until he passed away last January 19 at the age of 94. He left his colossal fortune to his six children Teresita, Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert and Harley.
Villar followed with $6.6 billion, John Gokongwei, Jr., who owns Robinsons mall chains and budget carrier Cebu Pacific came third with $5.3 billion.
Port operator Enrique Razon, Jr. placed fourth, followed by Ayala Group’s Jaime Zobel de Ayala, LT Group founder and chairman Lucio Tan, Jollibee Food Corp. chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, and San Miguel Corp.’s Ramon Ang.
Completing the top ten in PH richest list are the children of the late Metrobank founder George Ty and Andrew Tan of Alliance Global which owns the McDonald’s franchise in the country.
Other groups that made it to the list of the country’s richest are the children of builder David Consunji at 13th spot, and the children of Mercury Drug founder Mariano Que at 18th place.
The heirs of Unilab Pharmaceutical company – Jocelyn, Joselito and Jeffrey Campos – ranked 23rd with a combined net worth of $650 million.
Forbes noted that aside from Henry Sy, 4 other long-time members of the country’s richest passed away including Metrobank and GT Capital’s George Ty, Unilab’s Beatrice Campos, Gilberto Duavit of GMA Network and Jon Aboitiz of the Aboitiz Group.
The global magazine said their passing created a new class of second-generation successors who secured a spot on this year’s list.
“The Sy siblings best illustrate this shift,” Forbes said, citing as well the Ty siblings and Campos siblings.
Davao-based tycoon Dennis Uy, meanwhile, debuted on Forbes’ list at 22nd for his estimated fortune of $660 million. Uy founded Udenna which has interests in shipping, logistics, oil, real estate, education and gaming.