Super tycoon Henry Sy (SM, Banco De Oro) with net worth of $3.8B leads Forbes Asia 2009's stratospheric list of Top 10 Richest in the Philippines.
Lucio Tan (Fortune Tobacco, Foremost Farms, PNB, Allied Bank, Asia Brewery, Philippine Airlines), is at second place with $1.7B and Jaime Zobel de Ayala (Ayala Corp.) with $1.2B round out the elite Philippines dollar-denominated billionaire's club.
The top 10 richest in the Philippines are:
1. Henry Sy
2. Lucio Tan
3. Jaime Zobel de Ayala
4. Andrew Tan
5. John Gokongwei
6. Tony Tan Caktiong
7. Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr.
8. Enrique Razon, Jr.
9. Manuel Villar
10. George Ty
Senator Manny Villar is the big name here as far as the 2010 polls is concerned.
With a net worth of $530M (roughly P25B), Villar is the presidentiable who will need the least outside financial support to wage a sustained 2010 campaign. Theoretically, Villar can be "his own man" although that requires as much an independent character as it does robust financial strength.
He can unload enough shares in his corporations to easily raise the P3B cash we often hear as the magic number necessary to mount an effective presidential run. Formidable resources for a man who, in spite of the ongoing Senate investigation into the alleged C5 double insertion controversy, still manages to lead Pulse Asia's latest survey by a significant margin.
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