Sy, Zobel, Aboitiz clans remain on Asia’s richest families list

Henry Sy, Sr., Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, and Erramon Aboitiz. FILE PHOTOS

Three clans from the Philippines remained on Forbes magazine’s list of 50 richest families in Asia.

The family of businessman Henry Sy, who owns SM Investments Corp., ranked 17th on Forbes Asia’s second year of listing the top-earning families in the continent, with a net worth of $12.8 billion, slightly higher than last year’s $12.3 billion. The Sy family was on no. 13 last year.

READ: Sy richest Filipino on Forbes list, again

Ayala Corporation’s Zobel family landed on the 37th spot this year with an estimated wealth of $5.1 billion. This was two notches lower than last year’s ranking, but the net income was higher than the $4.2 billion estimated in 2015.

The Cebu-based Aboitiz family, which ventures into power generation among other businesses, climbed five notches from last year at no. 39. The family’s wealth is estimated at $4.95 billion.

South Korea’s Lee family of the Samsung Group topped the list for the second year, with a wealth of $29.6 billion. This was higher than last year’s $26.6 billion despite a global recall of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

Forbes said the top 50 families, 17 of which hailed from India, have a collective wealth of $519 billion.

“Sources of Asian wealth are broadening. You can see that among the rich families here, and even within many of the families – no particular sectors of the economy dominate. For those aiming to be among Asia’s richest, it’s a very wide world,” said Forbes Asia editor Tim Ferguson.

Rounding up the top 10 richest families are:

2)  Chearavanont from Thailand; $27.7 billion

3)  Ambani from India; $25.8 billion

4)  Kwok from Hong Kong; $25.2 billion

5)  Lee from Hong Kong; $24.7 billion

6)  Hartono from Indonesia; $18.6 billion

7)  Kwek/Quek from Singapore, Malaysia; $18.5 billion

8)  Cheng from Hong Kong; $17.3 billion

9)  Tsai (Financial) from Taiwan; $15.3 billion

10)  Hinduja from India, UK; $14.9 billion