MANILA - Former Senate president and real estate mogul Manny Villar is still the richest person in the Philippines with a net worth of $7.2 billion or around P349.6 billion in 2021, Forbes said on Tuesday in its 35th annual ranking of the world’s richest people.

Villar, who is also chairman of Vista Malls (formerly Starmalls), one of Philippines' largest mall operators, is ranked at 352 in Forbes’ list of billionaires worldwide.

This is more than 200 spots higher after he notched 565th place in 2020.

Ports magnate Enrique Razon followed the former senator again in the Philippines list with an estimated net worth of $5 billion or around P242.8 billion, ranking at 561 in Forbes' global list.

Tycoon Lucio Tan ranked third in the Philippines and 925th worldwide, with an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion or at least P160 billion.

The heirs of the late mall tycoon Henry Sy, Hans Sy and Herbert Sy, as well as real estate, liquor, and fast food taipan Andrew Tan followed next with a net worth of $3 billion each. The three billionaires ranked joint 1,008th in Forbes' list.

Three other billionaires from the Sy family took 1174th place, namely Harley Sy, Henry Sy Jr., and Teresita Sy-Coson, having a net worth of $2.7 billion each.

Elizabeth Sy, along with Tony Tan Caktiong, founder and chairman of the famed Jollibee Foods, took 1299th place with net worth of $2.4 billion each.

Ramon Ang, president, COO, and vice chairman of San Miguel Corp, took 1444th place with a net worth of $2.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, founder of e-commerce behemoth Amazon, still sat at the top of Forbes' list with a net worth of $177 billion, followed by Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk with $151 billion.

In the world's top 3 is Bernard Arnault of luxury goods company LVMH with $150 billion.

Forbes noted that the the number of billionaires on its latest annual list of the world’s richest "exploded to an unprecedented 2,755--660 more than a year ago."

"Of those, a record high 493 were new to the list--roughly one every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong. Another 250 who’d fallen off in the past came roaring back. A staggering 86% are richer than a year ago,” Forbes said.

It noted that these billionaires are worth $13.1 trillion altogether, up from $8 trillion in 2020.

"The US still has the most (billionaires), with 724, followed by China (including Hong Kong and Macao) with 698," it said.

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