Manny Villar's fortune triples, climbs to 2nd spot in Forbes' rich list Ian Nicolas Cigaral (philstar.com) – September 6, 2018 – 2:15pm

MANILA, Philippines — Real estate tycoon Manuel "Manny" Villar is now the Philippines' second richest man after his wealth tripled over the past year, according to Forbes magazine’s 2018 ranking of the country’s 50 wealthiest people, amid a construction boom in the Philippines that has boosted the fortunes of the country’s business magnates.

Meanwhile, retail magnate Henry Sy of the SM Investments Corp., one of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates, has remained the country's richest man for eleven years in a row.

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The net worth of Villar, 68, is now $5 billion from $1.7 billion in August last year, Forbes said, dislodging 92-year-old JG Summit founder John Gokongwei Jr., whose net worth dropped to $4.4 billion as of September 2018 from $5.5 billion in end-August last year.

Villar is the chairman of Starmalls, one of Philippines’ largest mall operators, and Vista Land & Lifescapes, one of the country’s leading integrated property developers.

In the first half of 2018, Vista Land registered a 17 percent growth in net income to P5.2 billion. On the other hand, shares in the Villar group-led memorial park developer Golden Bria Holdings Inc. leapt a staggering 1,300 percent in the first quarter, Forbes reported.

On the top spot of this year’s richest list was Sy, 93, who managed to grow his net worth to $18.3 billion as of September 2018 from $18 billion last year through his diversified businesses.

But Sy’s fortune as of this month was lower than the $20 billion he earned in March this year.

Sy’s SMIC, the holding company of the SM Group, has interests in retail, property and banking.

In the first half of 2018, SMIC reported a net income of P18.1 billion, up 9 percent from P16.6 billion in the same period last year despite high inflation that has tempered consumer spending in recent months. As of end-June 2017, total assets of SM grew 8 percent to P985.9 billion.

“The 50 ranking had an unusually volatile year, with 19 seeing net worths shift 20 percent or more, compared with just 12 last year,” Forbes said.

Seven newcomers made the 50 richest list, including self-made fashion designer Josie Natori and Necisto Sytengco of chemical-trading outfit SBS Philippines.

Below is the list of the country’s 10 richest people:

According to Forbes, the 2018 list was compiled using information from the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private databases, government agencies and other sources.

Meanwhile, net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on Aug. 24, 2018.

The new Forbes list was released a day after the country’s statistics agency reported a 6.4 percent inflation in August.

READ: Filipinos tighten belts as inflation jumps to new 9-year high in August

Inflation has been hitting the poor amid rising prices of rice, a Filipino main staple. The central bank has responded by raising its policy rates by a cumulative 100 basis points from May to August, making investment activities costlier for businesses.

This article first appeared on www.PhilStar.com