Billionaires' riches reach record highs during pandemic

ZURICH, Switzerland - The wealth of the world's dollar billionaires reached record heights despite the global coronavirus crisis, notably thanks to a strong comeback by tech and health giants, said a report published Wednesday.

By the end of July, the cumulative wealth of billionaires stood at around $10.2 trillion, according to a study conducted by Switzerland's biggest bank UBS and accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

That exceeded the previous peak of $8.9 trillion recorded in 2017.

The annual inventory of the super-rich's fortunes identified 2,189 billionaires at the end of July -- 31 more than in 2017.

However, the figures mask significant changes during the stock market crash in March, which saw some tumble out of the billionaires' club, before a sharp rebound in technology and health stocks began.

"Fortunes are polarising as business innovators and disruptors deploy technology to be among the leaders of today's economic revolution," the report said.

"The Covid-19 crisis just accentuated this divergence" between tech, health and industry innovators who were already on the rise, and other billionaires who are "on the wrong side of economic, technological, societal and environmental trends" and are becoming less wealthy.

The coronavirus pandemic had a dramatic impact on the world's billionaires.

The wealth of billionaires fell 6.6 percent in February and March, before bouncing back by 27.5 percent between April and the end of July, notably to the benefit of technology giants.

Across 2018, 2019 and the first seven months of 2020, the fortunes of four billionaires in the tech sector increased by 42.5 percent, putting their cumulative fortune at an estimated $1.8 trillion.

Health sector billionaires recorded an increase of 50.3 percent, with a cumulative fortune estimated at $658.6 billion.

By comparison, the net worth of billionaires in industries such as entertainment, real estate and financial services only increased by no more than 10 percent.

Agence France-Presse

The hidden perk that New York's mega-rich now demand

NEW YORK — Sean O’Connor drove his Jeep into the porte cochère and through the wide garage door at the far end and got out.

After that, the garage took over, but not with an attendant behind the wheel. The garage in O’Connor’s luxury building in lower Manhattan is automated. No one touched the Jeep as it was lifted to its parking space five floors above.

The parking system is a high-tech twist possible in a building with a porte cochère, the urban version of a carport — a covered-driveway-and-entry combination that was popular in the days of horses and carriages.

“Porte cochère” — pronounced port KO-shair — is a French term that originally described an entrance to a building large enough for a coach to be driven into an interior courtyard. Think palaces. Think Louis XIV.

With New York experiencing a new gilded age, porte cochères are making a comeback in high-end buildings, like 565 Broome St., where O’Connor is the resident manager and where the least-expensive apartment on the market is listed at $3.925 million.

The modern porte cochère is all about invisibility, or at least providing cover from prying eyes on city streets.

Celebrities, VIPs and ultra-high-net-worth types, especially those who are not regulars in the gossip columns, do not want to be seen coming and going. The porte cochère is their shield from photographers, professionals and fans or mere passersby with cellphones held high.

In 2019 New York, many of those residents live in buildings where apartments sell for seven or eight figures. “Only a building that’s catering to a very affluent tenantry could afford to do this,” said Mosette Broderick, a professor at New York University.

Porte cochères take up space — more space than many New Yorkers’ apartments — and space is, of course, valuable. At more than 2,000 square feet, the porte cochère at 40 East End Ave., a new building on the Upper East Side, is at least three times the size of the average Manhattan apartment (733 square feet, according to the rental website RENTCafe).

At 111 W. 57th St., an 82-story tower on Billionaires’ Row, the developers created a porte cochère by scooping out a section of the former Steinway & Sons building.

The Waldorf Astoria is dividing its famous porte cochère, really an underground passage running the width of the building between East 50th and East 49th streets.

Half will serve the hotel that will occupy part of the building when a top-to-bottom renovation is completed in 2021, and half will serve the condominiums in the other part. The prices for the condos have not been announced.

“A private porte cochère has become a benchmark for buildings at this level, and really a requirement,” said Dan Tubb, the sales director for Douglas Elliman at the Waldorf. “There is a greater need to have a transition from the energy of the street, especially here in Manhattan, into a more serene and serviced environment.”

Such buildings have staffs that can help load the tote bags that residents take to their weekend houses in Connecticut or the Hamptons. To doormen and porters fall the responsibility of keeping up with the parade of look-alike Cadillac Escalades and Mercedes S class sedans.

Scott J. Avram, a senior vice president of Lightstone, the developer at 40 East End Ave., called the porte cochère “more important than a lot of more traditional indoor amenities,” like private dining rooms, reading rooms and game rooms.

But some critics believe the porte cochère should never have been resurrected.

“It’s being brought back at a time when the need for cars is less and less apparent,” said Adrian Benepe, a former New York City parks commissioner.

In the last several years, the city has begun moving away from the car culture that has dominated the streets for much of the 20th century. Miles of bus and bike lanes have been installed, and New York is poised to become the first American city with a congestion pricing plan intended to get cars off the busiest streets. Starting in 2021, motorists will have to pay a toll when they drive into most snarl-prone parts of Manhattan.

Julia Vitullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the Regional Plan Association, said car culture had “become the ultimate inequality” in New York.

“Very wealthy people not only have cars, they have one per adult — one SUV per adult — in a household,” she said, adding that in some distant neighborhoods, residents need cars to connect with subway or bus lines.

By all accounts, the porte cochère’s heyday ended decades ago. Few buildings were built with them after World War II.

“They were going out of style when the automobile was still very much dominant,” Benepe said, “and now that public transportation alternatives are becoming more dominant and the automobile is becoming less and less important as a means of transit, it’s confounding that the porte cochère would be brought back.”

But not to Avram on East End Avenue.

“The predominant buyer at this price point will have a car,” Avram said. “Five million to 25 million. That’s a homeowner and a car owner. A lot of them have drivers. So, whether you’re driving yourself or being dropped off, a car is a part of your life.”

For those who use Uber as their regular means of getting around, porte cochères are a plus, especially on bad-weather days, said William Sofield, the architect for the interior spaces at 111 W. 57th St., where the porte cochère is on the 58th Street side.

“You wait often,” he said. “My own experience is you can wait for a very long time when it says the car has been rerouted.”

The West 57th Street building took advantage of what it inherited — breaks in the sidewalk for driveways that dated to loading docks from when the building belonged to Steinway & Sons, the piano manufacturer. The old Steinway building is connected to a new structure that towers over it.

Those breaks are known as curb cuts and “are extremely difficult to get,” said Marci Clark, an architectural historian who is development director of JDS Development Group, one of the three developers behind 111 W. 57th St.

The West 57th Street building is still under construction, as is the Waldorf. But one new building with a porte cochère has already made the gossip columns: 70 Vestry, where Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and his wife, Gisele Bündchen — whom Forbes lists as one of the highest-paid models in the world — were said to have bought an apartment on the 12th floor for $24.5 million.

One of their neighbors who asked not to be named said the porte cochère added more than convenience to living in the building.

“You feel safe,” she said. “When you come home late at night, the taxi can drop you off in the porte cochère.”

Some older buildings have blocked off their porte cochères and no longer use them to accommodate cars. Arthur Weinstein, a lawyer who has lived at 924 West End Ave. since 1969, said the decision there was made years ago.

“People tried to beat the parking problem by sticking their cars inside” the porte cochère, he said. Besides, he said, the building’s porte cochère was never wide enough. “We decided it had no good functional use.”

For 44 years, Vitullo-Martin has lived in a building with a porte cochère that leads to a courtyard with an urban garden — the Belnord, on West 86th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.

She and her husband are rent-regulated tenants; in recent years the Belnord has been renovated as a condominium, with apartments listed for as much as $11.45 million.

As the prices at the Belnord have risen, the size of the vehicles that drive into the courtyard has also grown.

“These SUVs are like trucks,” said Vitullo-Martin, who does not own a car. “It’s as if the courtyard is open to the trucking industry.”

c.2019 The New York Times Company

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Billionaires' wealth falls for first time since 2015

ZURICH - The world's richest people became a little less well off last year, according to a report by UBS and PwC, as geopolitical turmoil and volatile equity markets reduced the wealth of billionaires for the first time since 2015.

Billionaires' wealth fell by 4.3% globally to $8.5 trillion last year, the UBS/PwC report found, with a sharp decline in Greater China, including Hong Kong, and the Asia-Pacific region more broadly.

Private wealth in Hong Kong fell 4% in 2018 to $319.8 billion, the report showed, with months of anti-government protests in the Chinese-ruled city and an economic recession clouding the outlook this year.

Some Hong Kong tycoons have begun moving personal wealth offshore, Reuters reported in June, as concerns deepen over the protests.

"We haven't seen any significant outflows, we have been tracking some of these numbers on a regular basis," said Amy Lo, UBS co-head of Asia Pacific wealth management. "Our clients have been diversifying all along, it's not in the last one year."

Private banks including the world's largest wealth manager UBS have felt the effects of U.S.-China trade tensions and global political uncertainties, as clients last year shied away from trading and taking on debt in favour of hoarding cash.

The net worth of China's richest dropped 12.8% in dollar terms on the back of tumbling stock markets, a weaker local currency and a slowdown in growth, the report found, knocking dozens off the billionaires list.

Despite the drop, China still produces a new billionaire every 2-2.5 days, UBS's head of ultra-high net worth clients, Josef Stadler, said in the report released on Friday.

Worldwide, the number of billionaires fell everywhere except in the Americas, where tech entrepreneurs continued to buoy the ranks of the United States' wealthiest.

"This report shows the resilience of the U.S. economy," where there were 749 billionaires at the end of 2018, said John Matthews, head of private wealth management and ultra-high net worth business for UBS in the United States.

While a stock market recovery from a steep drop in late 2018 has helped wealth managers increase their assets, the world's richest families remain concerned about global affairs from trade tensions and Brexit to populism and climate change and are keeping more of their money in cash.

"It is likely that billionaire wealth will go up again this year," said Simon Smiles, UBS's chief investment officer for ultra-wealthy clients, adding it would likely be a more muted increase than the wider financial market rally might suggest. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Forbes: Henry Sy is still PH top billionaire; Jeff Bezos is world's richest

MANILA - Shopping mall tycoon Henry Sy is still the Philippines' richest man while Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos seized the top spot for the first time, Forbes Magazine said Tuesday.

Sy has a net worth of $20 billion (P1 trillion), nearly double from last year's $12.7 billion, and ranked 52nd worldwide. Sy has led the country's billionaires for 10 years in a row.

Bezos' seized the top spot from Microsoft founder Bill Gates this year with a net worth of $112 billion. Gates placed second with a net worth of $90 billion.

Tycoon John Gokongwei of the JG Summit group and family ranked second in the Philippines and 305th worldwide with $5.8 billion.

Enrique Razon, who owns Solaire Casino and Resort, was third in the Philippines and 404th worldwide with $4.9 billion.

According to Forbes, Asia Pacific has the most billionaires at 827, followed by the United States at 585 and Europe at 559.

A record 2,208 billionaires made this year's list, with a collective net worth of $9.1 trillion, up from $7.7 trillion last year.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bill Gates: Billionaires should pay 'significantly' more taxes

WASHINGTON - Bill Gates says he has paid more than $10 billion in taxes over a lifetime but billionaires like him should pay "significantly" more because they benefit more from the system.

The Microsoft co-founder, the world's second richest man after Amazon's Jeff Bezos, was critical of a recent US tax overhaul that slashed corporate taxes and lowered the top bracket for individual income.

"I've paid more taxes, over $10 billion, than anyone else, but the government should require the people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes," he said in an interview Sunday with CNN.

He said the tax overhaul passed in December favors the rich despite Republican claims it will help the middle and working classes.

"People who are wealthier tended to get dramatically more benefits than the middle class or those who are poor, and so it runs counter to the general trend you'd like to see, where the safety net is getting stronger and those at the top are paying higher taxes," he said.

With a sixth of the US population living in what he called "disappointing" conditions, he said US policymakers need to think about rising inequality and ask, "Why aren't we doing a better job for those people?"

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Number of billionaires worldwide jumps 10 pct: study

The number of billionaires worldwide rose above 1,500 last year, a 10 percent jump from 2015, due largely to a surge in Asia, Swiss banking giant UBS and auditors PwC said Thursday.

In an annual report, UBS and PwC said that last year marked the first time it recorded more billionaires in Asia (637) than in the United States (563), crediting the rise of China's entrepreneurs.

Europe took third spot in the report's billionaire database with 342.

The total wealth controlled by the ultra-rich group also shot up to $6 trillion (5.1 trillion euros), marking a 17 percent rise on the previous year when billionaire wealth actually shrank, the report said.

The group of 1,542 billionaires either owns or partly controls companies that employ 27.7 million people, it added.

While the chasm between the world's rich and poor remains a burning political issue across the continents, UBS and PwC said that billionaire assets are increasingly likely to benefit the needy.

"Looking further forward, we estimate that $2.4 trillion (2.1 trillion euros) of billionaire wealth will be transferred in the next two decades as billionaires age, with a significant amount going to philanthropic causes," the report said.

Three quarters of those who newly became billionaires in 2016 were from China and India, the findings showed.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Beijing overtakes NYC as 'Billionaire Capital of the World'

BEIJING — Move over, New York City: Beijing is the new "Billionaire Capital of the World." The Chinese capital has overtaken the Big Apple as home to the most billionaires — 100 to 95 — according to Hurun, a Shanghai firm that publishes a monthly magazine and releases yearly rankings and research about the world's richest people and their spending habits.

The study, which comes months after reports suggested China now has more billionaires than the United States, highlights how China's elite are continuing to accrue vast wealth despite a wobbling stock market and cooling economy.

Different tabulations of wealth, such as the Hurun Report and the Forbes list, have historically produced somewhat different results depending on their methodology.

Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of Hurun, attributed China's explosive wealth creation to Chinese market regulators allowing a flood of new initial public offerings after holding back new IPOs for several years.

Hoogewerf said his wealth calculations were made using stock prices as of Jan. 15, which means they took into account the Chinese market's 40 percent tumble over the past half year.

Had the calculations been made at the market's peak last summer, the number of Chinese billionaires would have been nearly 150, Hoogewerf said.


Beijing took the title from New York after minting 32 new billionaires last year, while New York gained four. Moscow came in third place, with 66 billionaires, while Hong Kong and Shanghai came in fourth and fifth with 64 and 50, respectively, Hurun said.

China's richest man, real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin, came in 21st place globally behind Wal-Mart scions, the Swedish family that owns Ikea and Brazilian investor Jorge Paulo Lemann. Other Chinese billionaires in the global top 100 included Alibaba founder Jack Ma, beverage magnate Zong Qinghou, and the tech bosses at phone maker Xiaomi, social media firm Tencent and Baidu, the search engine.

Hoogewerf said China had a particularly high proportion of self-made billionaires compared to the United States.

"What we showed today is that at the super-wealth creation level, the Chinese are now leading," Hoogewerf said. "People will look at China the same way that people looked at Stanford or Silicon Valley in the 1990s."

source: philstar.com

Climate deal needed if Bill's billions are to help poor nations

WASHINGTON - Heads of state and big-name billionaires opened the Paris climate summit with a bang on Monday, promising billions of dollars to develop new green technology to solve a key sticking point of the negotiations: financing a low-carbon future for developing nations like India.

Yet campaigners and experts warned that it will be hard to deploy any new technologies quickly in places where they are needed most unless negotiators at the two-week U.N. talks can work out a deal on how rich countries will help finance this.

"I think the elephant in the room is still finance," said Yvo de Boer, former head of the U.N. climate change secretariat.

He and others were encouraged by Monday's announcements, which opened the taps for funding a wave of research in hopes of breakthroughs such as the artificial photosynthesis Bill Gates envisions to produce liquid hydrocarbons that challenge fossil fuels. France and India launched a plan for a trillion-dollar alliance to deliver solar energy to poor nations.

Still, many countries are simply not ready to be on the receiving end of major technology transfers, experts said. For a poor country to adopt new technologies, it must have the right institutions, regulations and workforce in place.

During the Paris talks, experts said, negotiators must map out ways for rich countries to provide funds poor countries need to prepare to receive new technology. They noted that rich countries have promised to spend more than $100 billion a year beginning in 2020 to adapt low-carbon technologies and build defenses against rising sea levels, droughts and other climate-related problems.

So far, the UN's Green Climate Fund, the main vehicle to dole out this money, has a a long way to go, with just $12 billion in pledges. Scaling up that amount is a major task at the Paris talks. Rich nations want some emerging economies like China to contribute, while developing countries want target dates and accountability.

The billions promised on Monday for technology development "should not be seen as a substitute for the public finance that must be on the table to unlock a stronger agreement by the end of next week," said Tim Gore, head of policy and advocacy for Oxfam International.

Gore said the world needs "a deal to regularly set new targets for financial and technological support for poor countries that need it."

The U.S. Energy Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), which has conducted early research on technologies like fusion and advanced batteries, found that some workers in poor countries "weren't able to maintain new projects, so things fail," said Cheryl Martin, the program's former acting director.

Even if larger nations like India and China can get over these hurdles, less-developed poor nations risk falling further behind.

"We need to ensure that competitiveness of even less developed countries is enhanced by these opportunities rather than being left behind," said Jonathan Coony, coordinator for the World Bank's Climate Technology Program.

Poor countries must build manufacturing capacity, research capabilities and a local workforce to develop their own green economy "rather than remaining technology takers," Coony said.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property rights could also pose a barrier to technology transfer. Patents fuel innovation and attract investors to companies that develop technology. But India and other poor countries have said for years that much patented technology is too expensive. They want green technologies treated as a public good.

India had pushed a plan to use part of the U.N. fund to buy out intellectual property rights for desired technologies, but the United States opposes any attempt to change the protections.

Developed countries pressing India to abandon coal and fossil fuels more quickly will "have to pick up the incremental cost" of IP rights, says Ajai Malhotra, a former climate negotiator who advises the Indian delegation.

"Developed and developing countries can move ahead by sharing about technology, and it doesn't mean this will deprive industry in the developed world of their share of profits," he said.

Gates said in an interview on the sidelines of the talks on Monday that green technology companies could learn from the information technology sector on how to deal with intellectual property rights.

"It's like the IT space," Gates said. "Some governments put the research into the public domain. Some license it. Then the start-up companies have to deal with intense competition."

Gates said companies will watch their pricing on green technology if they want to access huge markets in India.

"If you want India to buy something you better price it cheaper than coal," Gates said. "That's a very tough challenge for these companies. They have to come up with something that's cheaper than coal or else the amount they are going to sell to India is going to be pretty modest."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Steve Forbes sees more billionaires emerging from Philippines

MANILA – Expect more billionaires to come from the Philippines in the coming years.

Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, said that as the Philippine economy continues its growth, the country will produce more Filipino billionaires.

“As the economy prospers, yes. But the key thing is incomes across the board in this country will continue to rise, and that will show the world that this will be a model. You can have a good political system and good economic growth and I think that model is badly needed these days,” Forbes told ANC's Cathy Yang in an exclusive interview at the sidelines of the 15th Forbes Global CEO Conference on Monday.

The prestigious conference is being held in the Philippines for the first time, bringing together some of the world's wealthiest entrepreneurs.

"It’s a very appropriate one...The Philippines is a tiger now in terms of Asian economies. Other economies around the world seem to be slowing down, getting in trouble. Philippines still has a full head of steam and looks like you’re going to continue that in the future, so we want to be where the action is,” said Forbes.

Forbes said the Philippines will continue to experience growth due to reforms, which he also expects to continue despite a change in government next year.

Currently, the richest billionaires in the Philippines have a combined net worth of nearly $50 billion (P2.3 trillion).

In the latest Forbes' 50 richest Filipinos list, 17 entrepreneurs from the Philippines breached the $1 billion-mark. SM's Henry Sy is the country's richest man with a net worth of $14.4 billion.

For its latest global rich list, Forbes listed a record 1,826 billionaires, including 11 well-known tycoons from the Philippines and one young Filipino-American tech entrepreneur.

'SLASH TAXES'

Forbes will be having a one-on-one meeting with President Aquino on Wednesday, and he said he will be saying one thing to the President: slash taxes.

Forbes believes that the country's tax system needs improvement, stressing that government has room to lower corporate and income tax rates without risking losing revenues.

“That’s how you get a vibrant economy. Everyone comes out ahead. When you have a bigger economy, a more vibrant economy, you get more revenues, so the government does well. But key thing is that people do well, the economy does well,” he said, noting that a simplified tax system is one way to get more revenues.

"When you make it easy to collect, and have a low rate where people don’t have to focus on trying to avoid it, good things happen,” he added.

The Philippines has the highest income tax rate in the ASEAN region with the personal income tax at 32 percent.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Am behind Snapchat among Forbes' 400 richest billionaires

MANILA - The Filipino-American co-founder of Snapchat has made it to the 2015 Forbes 400, which lists the 400 wealthiest billionaires in the US. [Forbes 400: http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/]

Bobby Murphy, who co-founded mobile messaging app SnapChat with fellow billionaire Evan Spiegel, ranked 375th in the list with a net worth of $1.8 billion.

At 27 years old, Murphy is the second youngest billionaire after his partner Spiegel, who is only 25 years old.

Murphy grew up in Berkeley, California and is a graduate of Stanford University. His mother emigrated from the Philippines.

Snapchat was initially released in 2011 and now has a value of $16 billion.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is still the richest American with a net worth of $76 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett ($62 billion) and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison ($47.5 billion) is the second and third richest, respectively, according to Forbes.

Forbes said the 2015 edition of the list was harder than ever to join.

"The price of entry this year was $1.7 billion, the highest it’s been in the 34 years that Forbes has tracked American wealth. Last year it took $1.55 billion to make the cut. Because the bar is so high, 145 US billionaires missed the list," Forbes said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Rich List: 10 wealthiest Korean billionaires

MANILA, Philippines - South Korea has a record 35 billionaires on Forbes magazine's 2015 Rich List.

Since Samsung is the most well-known South Korean brand, it comes as no surprise that Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee is Korea's richest man.

Interestingly, five of the 10 richest men in South Korea have been convicted of crimes such as embezzlement and tax evasion. One Korean billionaire on the list is still in jail.

Find out who made the list of richest Korean billionaires.

Mobile users can view the desktop version of the slideshow here

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LOOK: 5 of the richest women in tech

MANILA, Philippines - Tech is usually seen as a male-dominated industry, having been dominated by billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

There are a few women who have made it to the top of the tech world, although their wealth is still far from the billions that Gates and Zuckerberg have.

To compare, Gates has a net worth of $85.1 billion, while Hewlette Packard CEO Meg Whitman, the richest woman in tech, has a net worth of $1.3 billion.

Here are the five wealthiest women in the technology sector, according to Wealth-X.

Mobile users can view the desktop version of the slideshow here.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

These 11 Pinoys are among world's richest

MANILA – Eleven Filipino billionaires made it to Forbes magazine's latest list of richest persons in the world.

The SM Group’s Henry Sy is still the richest Filipino with a net worth of $14.2 billion. He ranked number 73 among the richest billionaires in the world.

“His net worth has increased by 10 digits plus thanks to the continued growth of his SM Investments Corp, the largest retailer in the Philippines with over 200 individual outlets around the country. The firm is one of the country's largest conglomerates with interests in real estate development, shopping malls and banking,” Forbes said.

Second-richest Filipino is the founder of JG Summit Holdings, John Gokongwei Jr., who has a net worth of $5.8 billion.

Gokongwei, who ranks 254th richest in the world, has businesses in airlines, telecoms, property development, banking, hotels, and power.

The chairman and chief executive of International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), Enrique Razon Jr., ranks 291st richest person in the world with a net worth of $5.2 billion.

ICTSI is the largest port operator in the Philippines, and operates a total of 29 ports across 21 countries.

Megaworld’s Andrew Tan is the Philippines’ fourth richest billionaire with a net worth of $4.8 billion. He ranks 330th in the world.

Aside from Megaworld, Tan is also the man behind the success of Emperador Distillers and Resorts World Manila.

LT Group’s Lucio Tan is the Philippines’ fifth richest billionaire and 369th in the world with a net worth of $4.4 billion.

LT Group owns Asia Brewery and has a stake in Philip Morris-Fortune Tobacco, which has an estimated 80 percent market share of the cigarette market in the Philippines.

Rounding up the list of riches Filipinos in the Forbes annual list are GT Capital’s George Ty ($4.4 billion; 369th); DMCI’s David Consunji ($4.1 billion; 405th); Jollibee’s Tony Tan Caktiong ($2.7 billion; 690th); Puregold’s Lucio and Susan Co ($2.3 billion; 810th); Prudential’s Robert Coyiuto Jr. ($1.8 billion; 1054th); and former senator and Vista Land founder Manuel Villar ($1.6 billion; 1190th).

World's richest

The title of world’s richest man still belonged to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has a current net worth of $79.2 billion, up from $76 billion in 2014.

Gates took the top spot for the second consecutive year, beating out telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, whose net worth increased to $77.1 billion from $72 billion last year.

Warren Buffett ($72.7 billion), Zara’s Amancio Ortega ($500 million), and Oracle’s Larry Ellison ($54.3 billion) closed out the five richest billionaires in the world.

Forbes said a record 1,826 billionaires made the list, higher than the 1,645 billionaires in 2014.

A record 290 billionaires were added to the list this year, beating out a previous high of 268 newcomers last year.

By countries, the US has the most number of billionaires with 536, followed by China with 213, Germany with 103, India with 90 and Russia with 88. Regionally, Asia-Pacific has the most billionaires with 562, followed by the US with 536, and Europe with 482.

The complete list is posted on www.forbes.com/billionaires.

source: ww.abs-cbnnews.com

Which billionaire lost $7B of his fortune in 2014?

MANILA, Philippines - This billionaire earned an extra $18.5 billion in 2014, making him the biggest financial gainer of the year, according to Wealth-X. Another billionaire, on the other hand, lost $7 billion, making him the biggest financial loser of 2014.

Wealth-X, a leading ultra high net worth intelligence and prospecting firm, said Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma added $18.5 billion to his wealth this year, bringing his total net worth to $29.2 billion. The 173 percent increase in his fortune was attributed to Alibaba's blockbuster IPO in September, and its stock's continued strong performance.

Highly-respected investor Warren Buffet ranked second on Wealth-X's list of top financial gainers, with a $13.5 billion increase in his fortune to $72.6 billion in 2014.

Bill Gates, who is still the world's richest man, added another $10.5 billion to his wealth in 2014 to reach $83.1 billion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg saw his fortune increase by $8.4 billion to reach $33.1 billion this year.

French-Israeli businessman Patrick Drahi added $5.1 billion to his wealth to hit $12.9 billion in 2014. Drahi founded telecommunications company Altice, which raised $1.8 billion from an IPO in January.

Biggest loser

Wealth-X also compiled the year's biggest financial losers.

Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson lost $7 billion, more than 40 percent of his wealth, due to the plunging Russian ruble, as well as weak oil prices. Mikhelson, who is the biggest shareholder of natural gas producer Novatek, is now worth $10 billion.

Japanese tycoon Masayoshi Son, who is the CEO of Soft Bank, saw a $5.9 billion reduction of his wealth this year, bringing it to $13.2 billion.

Hong Kong's second richest man Lui Chee Woo lost $5.5 billion of his fortune in 2014. His wealth is now at $14.1 billion. He is the chairman of K. Wah Group, which owns Galaxy Entertainment Group.

Amazon president, chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos' wealth was also reduced by $5.5 billlion this year, leaving him with $28.9 billion.

Sheldon Adelson, who is chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, lost $5.2 billion of his fortune this year. His wealth is now estimated at $30.1 billion.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Which city is home to the ultra-rich?

MANILA, Philippines - The United States is home to the world's largest population of billionaires.

According to Wealth-X's special report on America's Ultra Wealthy Population, the US has 571 billionaires.

"There are more ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individuals worth $30 million to $49 million in the United States than there are UHNW individuals of all wealth tiers combined in any other single country," the report said.

UHNW individuals are defined as those with $30 million and above in net assets.

Wealth-X named California as the state with the highest number of ultra wealthy individuals in the US. There are 13,445 UHNW individuals who live in California, mostly in San Francisco (5,460) and Los Angeles (5,135).

California has a bigger UHNW population than the United Kingdom, which has 11,510.

New York state ranks second in the US with 9,530 UHNW individuals.

"California and New York added the largest number of new UHNW individuals - there were 1,470 new UHNW individuals in these two states alone. Although these states’ GDP growth was not as impressive as that seen in other states, they have a number of advantages, one of them being the high concentration of UHNW population and businesses already established there," Wealth-X said.

Texas ranked third with 6,510 UHNW individuals, even more than Canada.

Florida ranked fourth with 4,710 super wealthy individuals, followed by Illinois with 2,905 UHNW individuals.

City for the super-rich

However, more than 90 percent of the super rich in New York state (8,655 individuals) live in the Big Apple.

Wealth-X said New York City has the biggest ultra wealthy population not just in the US, but all over the world.

Wealth-X said it used the individual’s primary business address as a determinant of his or her location.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Who are the 10 richest billionaires in America?

MANILA, Philippines - Who's the richest man in America, with a net worth of $81 billion?

Forbes magazine released its list of 400 wealthiest Americans, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates still on top.

Gates added $9 billion to his net worth this year to reach $81 billion, as the value of his Microsoft shares and investments grew.

Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, reported a net worth of $67 billion. He's been the second richest man on the list since 2001.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is the third richest man with a net worth of $50 billion.

Charles Koch, CEO of Koch Industries, and his brother David Koch, executive vice president of Koch Industries, were both ranked 4th on the list with $42 billion.

Several members of the Walton family, who own retail giant Wal-Mart, are in the top 10 richest list.

Christy Walton is the richest woman in America, with a net worth of $38 billion. She was married to John Walton, and inherited her wealth when he died in 2005.

Jim Walton, the youngest child of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, has a net worth of $36 billion. He is also the chairman and CEO of the Arvest Bank Group.

Michael Bloomberg, former New York mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP, ranked 8th on the list with a net worth of $35 billion.

Another Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton ranked 9th on the list with a net worth of $34.9 billion.

S. Robson Walton, chairman of the Wal-Mart stores, ranked 10th with a net worth of $34.8 billion. He is the eldest son of Sam Walton.

Here's the list according to Forbes:

1. Bill Gates - $81 billion
2. Warren Buffett - $67 billion
3. Larry Ellison - $50 billion
4. Charles Koch - $42 billion
4. David Koch - $42 billion
6. Christy Walton & family - $38 billion
7. Jim Walton - $36 billion
8. Michael Bloomberg - $35 billion
9. Alice Walton - $34.9 billion
10 S. Robson Walton - $34.8 billion

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 30, is not just the 11th richest man in America, but also the youngest billionaire on the list. He has a net worth of $34 billion.

On the other hand, the oldest person on Forbes' list of richest Americans is David Rockefeller Sr., who is 99 years old. The philanthropist has a net worth of $3 billion, which is enough for him to be ranked 201 on the list.

Forbes said the 400 wealthiest Americans on its list this year are worth an estimated $2.29 trillion, which is $270 billion more than a year ago.

Forbes said their combined net worth is "the same as the gross domestic product of Brazil, a country of 200 million people."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

What are the daily habits of billionaires?

MANILA, Philippines – The world’s richest and most successful people also get 24 hours a day, but what do they do in those hours that define their success?

ANC’s financial advisor Salve Duplito said the world’s richest man, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, uses most of his hours reading the Wall St. Journal, New York Times and the Economist.

The 58-year-old Gates also reads at least 100 emails per day.

His net worth is estimated at $76 billion, according to Forbes.

Carlos Slim, the second richest man in the world, wakes up early every day to drive himself to work.

The Mexican business magnate also personally makes daily phone calls to his associates.

His net worth is valued at $72 billion.

Zara’s Amancio Ortega, meanwhile, goes to the same coffee shop everyday, wears simple clothes, and eats lunch with his employees in the company canteen.

Like Slim, American billionaire Warren Buffett also drives himself to work everyday, and at 83 years old, he still arrives at his desk like clockwork at 8:30 a.m.

Duplito, citing Thomas Corley’s book Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, said although the wealthy come from widely different backgrounds, studies show that they have common habits that separate them from those living in poverty.

Among these habits are waking up early, reading, and writing down goals.

According to Corley’s study, 44% of the wealthy wakes up 3 hours before work while only 3% of the poor do so.

Reading is also a habit of the wealthy with 86% of them reading reams of information on a daily basis compared to only 26% of the poor.

Most wealthy and successful individuals spend their reading time of at least 30 minutes or more each day for education and career.

Wealthy people are also more goal-oriented, studies show, with 81% of them maintaining a to-do list compared to only 19% of the poor.

Eighty percent of the wealthy and successful are also focused on achieving a single goal compared to 12% of the poor.

Corley’s study also showed that most wealthy people avoid watching reality TV compared to 78% of the poor that do.

Duplito noted that this is an indication that “the huge divide between the haves and the have-nots is not money, but the mindset.”

“Mindset is also the one thing that can help a poor person get out of poverty. If a person knows how not to live poor even when he doesn’t have cash, eventually success and wealth will be well within his reach,” she added.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Which billionaire made $37-M a day in 2013?

MANILA, Philippines - Which billionaire made the biggest financial gain in 2013?

According to Wealth-X's calculations, American business magnate and investor Warren Buffet made $37 million (around P1.64 billion) a day in 2013.

In 2013, Buffett's net worth grew by $12.3 billion to $59.1 billion, making him number 1 on Wealth-X's list of billionaires who made the biggest financial gains this year.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates ranked second on the list, with an $11.5 billion increase in his net worth to $72.6 billion as of end 2013.

On third spot is American casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose net worth jumped by $11.4 billion to $35.4 billion.

Fourth place is Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos with an $11.3 billion increase in his net worth to $34.4 billion, followed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with a $10.5 billion increase in his net worth to $19.1 billion.

The top 10 includes Japanese Softbank founder Masayoshi Son; Google founder Sergey Brin and Larry Page; Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. founder Lui Che-Woo and prominent investor Carl Icahn.

Wealth-X said the individuals on the top 10 list collectively gained $101.8 billion in 2013, an average gain of $10.2 billion each.

On average, the top 10 made $29 million per day in 2013, and increased their wealth by 41.6%.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Who are the world's richest billionaire bachelors?

MANILA, Philippines – Research firm Wealth-X released a list on Wednesday naming the 10 richest billionaire bachelors in the world.

Topping the list is Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who is also the founder of investment and project management company Vulcan Capital.

Allen also owns the American football team Seattle Seahawks and the NBA team Portland Trail Blazers.

He has an estimated personal fortune of $15.3 billion.

The 60-year-old Allen has never been married, and recently reported to have bought an 8-bedroom mansion in the Silicon Valley town of Atherton for $27 million.

Second in the list is Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, with an estimated personal net worth of nearly $11 billion.

Armani’s business ranges from clothing lines, hotels to fragrances. He is turning 80 next year.

Rounding out the top 5 in the list are 48-year-old Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of NBA team Brooklyn Nets; 46-year-old Xavier Niel of Iliad; and 70-year-old David Geffen of Dreamworks.

“Against the backdrop of a proliferation of matchmaking TV shows and online services, meeting the right person is harder than ever. Add to that the compounding difficulty of super wealth and navigating the right soul mate and discerning right intentions becomes even more challenging,” said Wealth-X president David Friedman.

Also in the list are Rosp Corunna Participaciones Empresariales’ Marcos Mera ($5.7 billion), Duncan Family Foundation’s Scott Duncan ($5.3 billion), Arista Networks’ Andreas von Bechtolsheim ($4.4 million), Santo Domingo Group’s Alejandro Santo Domingo Davila ($3.9 million), and H.E. Butt Grocery’s Charles Butt ($2.9 million).

The 31-year-old Duncan is the youngest billionaire bachelor in the group while Armani is the oldest at 79.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Kris Aquino is top taxpayer of 2011; PH billionaires not in top 10

MANILA, Philippines - Celebrity Kris Aquino is the number one taxpayer in the country, beating out the country's billionaires, according to data from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Aquino, the youngest sister of President Benigno Aquino, paid nearly P50 million in income taxes in 2011.

The BIR on Monday released its list of Top 500 individual taxpayers for 2011. The list includes familiar names from business and entertainment, as well as not-so-familiar names. (For the full list, click here)

Prominent businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan ranked fourth with P25.99 million. Executives from Ayala companies were also top taxpayers, such as Bank of the Philippine Islands president Aurelio Montinola III (P24.47 million) and Manila Water president Gerardo Ablaza (P22.64 million).

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario ranked 118th with P7.1 million in income tax payment in 2011.

Where are the billionaires?

Interestingly, the country's billionaires were not in the Top 10.

Mall tycoon Henry Sy, Sr., who was named the richest man in the Philippines by Forbes magazine, ranked 15th on the BIR list with P16.58 million income tax. His son Hans Sy ranked 22nd with P13.4 million income tax, while daughter Teresita Sy ranked 83rd, paying P8.3 million in income tax in 2011.

Tycoon Lucio Tan, the second richest in the Philippines according to Forbes, only ranked 35th in BIR's list, paying P10.78 million in income tax.

Tan paid less than his lawyer Estelito Mendoza, who ranked 14th with tax payment of P 17.63 million.

David Consunji and family, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes at $2.8 billion, ranked 176th, paying P5.9 million in 2011.

However, other tycoons such as Enrique Razon, Jr. ($4.9 billion), Andrew Tan ($3.95 billion), George Ty and family ($2.6 billion), Lucio and Susan Co ($2 billion), Robert Coyiuto, Jr. ($1.6 billion),Tony Tan Caktiong and family ($1.4 billion), Andrew Gotianun and family ($1.2 billion), and Roberto Ongpin ($1.2 billion) were nowhere on the BIR's list.

Celebrities on the list

Aside from Aquino, several celebrities also made the BIR's list of top individual taxpayers. TV host and actor Marvic "Vic" Sotto paid P14.72 million in taxes, ranking 19th. Actor Derek Ramsey ranked 120th, paying P7 million in taxes.

Willie Revillame ranked 181th (P5.8 million), while Ogie Alcasid ranked 184th (P5.8 million). Sharon Cuneta ranked 191st, paying P5.74 million in taxes in 2011.

John Lloyd Cruz ranked 205th, paying P5.4 million in income tax.

Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao ranked 158th, paying only P6.1 million in income tax in 2011.

Top corporate taxpayers

Smart Communications topped the BIR's list of top non-individual taxpayers in 2011, with P10.23 billion in income tax. Manila Electric Company (Meralco) ranked second with P8.3 billion in taxes, followed by Shell Philippines (P6.36 billion), Chevron Malampaya (P6.3 billion) and Nestle Philippines (P4.8 billion).

San Miguel Brewery ranked 6th (P4.77 billion), followed by Globe Telecom (P4.52 billion), tobacco giant PMFTC (P3.7 billion), Petron Corp. (P2.62 billion) and Philex Mining (P1.87 billion).

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com