Date: March 2003

Forbes Includes Two Filipinos in Billionaires List

Two Filipino tycoons made it to the list of the prestigious Forbes magazine's list of 497 world billionaires in 2003. They are tobacco tycoon, Lucio Tan, and the family of 78-year-old retail tycoon, Henry Sy.

In its report, the magazine estimated the fortune of Tan at US$1.9 billion in 2003, up from US$1.7 billion in 2002. This placed him 209th in the list of world billionaires. The 68-year-old Tan, who has business interests in manufacturing, banking, and airlines, has no children.

The magazine listed the family of Henry Sy as the 348th richest family in the world. The Sy family's total wealth is estimated at US$1.2 billion in 2003, down from US$1.5 billion in 2002. Sy has six children.

Two Filipino tycoons, who appeared in the 2002 list, were dropped from this year's list. They were George Ty of Metrobank and the family of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala Group of Companies.

Other Filipinos who figured in previous billionaires' lists are John Gokongwei, a property and retail tycoon; Danding Cojuangco, chairman of San Miguel Corp.; the family of the late Tan Yu, a property mogul; and the Lopez family, which controls the country's power, water and broadcast utilities.

In showing how powerful the two Filipino billionaires in the Philippines are, Forbes magazine said that the two tycoons have a combined wealth of US$3.1 billion, representing around 4.4 percent of the country's total production. In 2002, the country of 80 million people had a gross domestic product (GDP) of only US$71.4 billion. Per capita income was placed at only US$917.

In the whole of Asia, the US business magazine listed 61 billionaires in 2003, down from 70 in 2002. Hong Kong's Li Ka-shing topped the list of Asian billionaires, with a net worth of US$7.8 billion. He was 28th in the world list. Around 32 Asian billionaires saw their fortunes decline last year.

In the world list, Microsoft's Bill Gates remains on top with a net worth of US$40.7 billion. Of the 497 billionaires in the list, 222 are Americans. These world billionaires have a combined wealth of US$1.4 trillion, or equivalent to the GDP of the United Kingdom.

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