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

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