According to the “Philippines’ 50 Richest” list released by Forbes Asia, the top spot was grabbed by the heirs to a gambling and business empire. The Sy siblings have inherited their fortune from Henry Sy Sr., their father, who was one of the early-day pioneers of the gambling and casino industry in the Philippines. Sy Sr. passed away at the age of 94 in 2019.
Philippines Richest People in 2024 Are Gambling Bosses
Sy Sr. helped build SM Investments Corporation, a sprawling conglomerate, which is also the company behind City of Dreams Manilla, the largest casino resort in the country operating in the capital, Manilla. City of Dreams is run by Melco through Melco Leisure, a Hong Kong-quartered company.
Not only are the Sy siblings toping the richest-person food chain, but they are similarly planning to expand in the local gambling industry. With the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations taking a hit under the presidency of Bongbong Marcos and other forms of online gambling increasingly restricted, this seems a highly plausible scenario.
This means that the Philippines may yet benefit from fresh opportunities to leverage places such as the Clark Freeport Zone and expand with physical and land-based gambling resorts. The absence of online gambling in the country will help warm up ties with China, the Philippines’ most important trading partner, with whom the Philippines has been contesting offshore waters.
The second person on the Philippines’ 50 Richest list is none other than Enrique Razon Jr., the man behind the International Container Terminal Services, which is, in turn, the largest port operator in the country. Razon has also expanded in gambling with Bloomberry Resorts, another prominent local operator, which is the backer of Solaire in Entertainment City.
As you can imagine, Solaire and City of Dreams are direct competitors in a country where land-based market entries are costly. In the meantime, outside investors have mostly focused their efforts in South Korea and Japan. Thailand is also pushing to introduce its own land-based casino resorts, but none of this is unlikely to impact the fortune of the Sy siblings and Razon.
Further Gambling Expansion Is Arriving in the Region
For one, the Philippine moguls are somewhat insulated from local competition in the regional gambling market, although increasing emphasis on premium experiences in Thailand and Japan could force them to compete more.
However, they are also backed by their other businesses in the meantime. The Sy siblings, though, have seen their wealth contract to $13 billion, down from $14.4 billion last year, whereas Razon’s has increased steadily, to $11.1 billion presently. Razon may also be playing a longer-term game, with Bloomberry Resorts also having a stake in Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino, which the company might be open to selling off.