Sy, Zobel among Asia's 50 richest families —Forbes

Two of the Philippines's wealthiest families running the biggest conglomerates in the country landed on Forbes' list of 50 richest clans in Asia.

The family of Henry Sy Sr., the country's richest person, ranked No. 9 with a fortune of $20.1 billion, up 57 percent in 12 months.

The Sy family started with a small shoe store in Manila in 1958. This would evolve into the country's largest mall developer and retailer.
 
The business interest of the family has since expanded to include banking and property development under SM Investments Corporation. It also owns a stake in electricity transmission company National Grid Corporation.

The Zobels occupied the 43rd spot with a net worth of $6.1 billion. The family runs the Philippines' oldest enterprise, Ayala Corp., which started as a small distillery in 1834.

The company is now the holding firm for the family's various business interests in real estate, banking, telecommunications, and infrastructure. Seven siblings control more than a third of the company.

"Asia’s 50 Richest Families list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of markets on November 3, 2017," Forbes said.

The collective wealth of the 50 richest families in Asia is worth $699 billion, up 35 percent from a year earlier.

This year's richest families in Asia was topped by India's Ambani family, for the first time, with a net worth of $44.8 billion. The Ambanis' own the conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. which has interests in retail, energy, textiles, petrochemicals, and telecommunications.

The Ambani family superseded the Lee clan of the Samsung empire.

In the second spot is South Korea's Lee family with a net worth of $40.8 billion. The family derives nearly 45 percent of its fortune from Samsung Electronics.

The top 10 richest families in Asia are:

• Ambani from India—US$44.8 billion
• Lee from South Korea—$40.8 billion
• Kwok from Hong Kong—$40.4 billion
• Chearavanont from Thailand—$36.6 billion
• Hartono from Indonesia—$32 billion
• Lee from Hong Kong—$29 billion
• Kwek/Quek from Singapore, Malaysia—$23.3 billion
• Cheng from Hong Kong—$22.5 billion
• Sy from the Philippines—$20.1 billion
• Chirathivat from Thailand—$19.3 billion

To qualify for the Forbes richest families list, a clan must have a minimum net worth of $5 billion, up by $1.6 billion from a year earlier. The family’s wealth must be rooted in Asia and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations. — VDS, GMA News