Page 60 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

The Philippines’ 50 Richest

THE LIST PASSING THE BATON

Five of the Philippines’
18. wealthiest people died in the
VIVIAN QUE AZCONA past year, a telling sign of the
& SIBLINGS ongoing intergenerational
$1.15 BILLION S transfer of wealth now under-
MERCURY DRUG way across the globe. In the
next three decades some $16 1
trillion worldwide will change
19.
RICARDO PO SR. hands, the largest wealth 5
transfer in history, according
$950 MILLION T to a 2018 study by Transameri-
CENTURY PACIFIC FOODS ca insurance and Asian Private
AGE: 88 Banker magazine.
Asia will be home to a
20. good chunk of that shift. 3
WILLIAM BELO Many tycoons in Asia started
$870 MILLION S building their fortunes more 4
WILCON DEPOT than half a century ago, while
AGE: 74 in their 20s and 30s—and
now are in their 70s and 80s.
The oldest billionaire in the
21. world is in Asia, Singaporean
DEAN LAO Chang Yun Chung, at 101. In In Memoriam
$840 MILLION T the Philippines, the average 1. Jon Aboitiz, 70, CEO, Aboitiz group
D&L INDUSTRIES age of the listees is 62 years, 2. Beatrice Campos,* 93, widow of founder Jose Campos, Unilab
3. Gilberto Duavit, 84, cofounder, GMA Network
AGE: 60 and 12 of them are over 80.
The oldest is Bienvenido 4. Henry Sy, Sr., 94, founder, SM group
Tantoco, Sr., at 98. 5. George Ty, 86, founder, Metrobank
22. —Roel Landingin *unpictured
DENNIS UY
$660 MILLION Ì
UDENNA
AGE: 46 WILLIAM BELO: RAISED HIGH ON ROOF BEAMS
When William Belo was a young man, he dreamed of owning a house for his family and building his own
23. business. Four decades later, his company, Wilcon Depot, is at the center of a boom in Philippine home
CAMPOS SIBLINGS ownership and construction.
$650 MILLION Ì Wilcon dominates the Philippine market for home improvement and construction supplies, with a 56%
UNILAB market share, and has seen its share price surge along with revenue and earnings since going public in
March 2017. In 2018, it recorded net income of $35 million, up 33% from a year earlier, on an 18% gain in
revenue, to $404 million. Revenues in 2019 are expected to grow 14% and net income by 19% year on year,
24. says Credit Suisse Philippines Research head Hazel Tanedo. “We are always bullish at Wilcon,” says 72-year-
CARLOS CHAN old Belo, who handed over the reins to daughter Lorraine
$610 MILLION T Belo-Cincochan, 39, in 2016 and now serves as chairman
OISHI emeritus. “It’s a mindset.”
AGE: 78 Belo, who started the business in 1977 with just
100,000 pesos ($1,945), now has an estimated net worth
25. of $870 million. A greater emphasis on in-house brands, BELO: COURTESY OF WILCON DEPOT, RAZON: PATRICK T. FALLON/BLOOMBERG, UY: COURTESY OF UDENNA GROUP
DELFIN J. exclusive distribution deals and in-store improvements has
WENCESLAO followed an ambitious expansion program. Wilcon opened
$500 MILLION Ì nine new depots last year and plans to open another 49
by 2025 to bring its total to 100. It also launched an online
D.M. WENCESLAO store in January.
& ASSOCIATE Wilcon’s growth spurt tracks what Belo calls “the
AGE: 75 golden age of Philippine construction,” fueled by rising
incomes, foreign remittances and Philippine President
26. Rodrigo Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build“ infrastructure pro-
JACINTO NG gram. Wilcon has also benefited from the rapid growth of
$480 MILLION S cities outside Manila: it plans to open 17 depots outside the
ASIA UNITED BANK capital by year’s end. “You can’t expect people from cities
AGE: 77 hours away to come to Manila to buy a product,” says Belo,
“so you should go to them.” —Sunshine Lichauco de Leon

58 | FORBES ASIA OCTOBER 2019