The coronavirus pandemic affected nearly every aspect of business and the economy, shedding a large part of the fortunes of many of the Philippines’ wealthiest individuals, such as the heirs of the late mogul Henry Sy and real estate tycoon Manuel Villar.
The losses of most of the country’s 50 wealthiest, however, did not affect the top two rankings retained by the Sy family and Villar on Forbes Magazine’s list released Thursday, September 17.
“The collective wealth of the Philippines’ 50 Richest dropped to $60.6 billion from $78 billion a year earlier,” Grace Chung of Forbes writes.
While a few dropped out of the top 10 and 20, some individuals on the Forbes 50 list managed to still earn billions of pesos in wealth despite a recession and widespread unemployment.
Here is a shortlist of the biggest gainers in the past year.
| Billionaire gainers | 2020 fortune | Source of wealth | Brand associations | Gains attributed to |
| Edgar “Injap” Sia II | $700 million | Fast food; Real estate | Mang Inasal; Double Dragon Properties | Successful IPO of MerryMart in June. |
| Felipe Gozon Jr. | $170 million | Media | GMA Network | Jump of GMA Network’s shares following rival ABS-CBN’s shutdown. |
| Soledad Oppen-Cojuangco and children | $1.2 billion | Food and beverage | San Miguel | Inheritance from late husband Eduardo Cojuangco, who chaired San Miguel Corp. |
| Lance Gokongwei and siblings | $4.1 billion | Airlines; Telecom; Banking; Food; Power; Property | Cebu Pacific; Universal Robina; Robinsons Retail | Inheritance from late father John Gokongwei Jr. |
| Vivian Que Azcona and siblings | $1.34 bilion | Drugstores | Mercury Drug | Continued operations of the drugstore chain as an essential service during monthslong quarantine. |
| Betty Ang | $185 million | Food and beverage | Monde Nissin | |
| PJ Lhuillier | $230 million | Pawn shops | Cebuana Lhuillier | |
| William Belo | $900 million | Home improvement stores | Wilcon Depot |