Rank Name

Net
worth
Age
Origin of
Wealth

#1 Henry Sy & family $12.7 B 89 diversified

#2 Lucio Tan & family $6.1 B 80 diversified

#3 Enrique Razon, Jr. $5.2 B 54 ports

#4 Andrew Tan $5.1 B 62 diversified

#5 John Gokongwei, Jr. $4.9 B 87 diversified

#6 David Consunji $3.9 B 92 construction

#7 George Ty & family $3.7 B 81 banking

#8 Family Aboitiz $3.6 B - Diversified

#9 Jaime Zobel de Ayala & family $3.4 B 80 Diversified

#10 Tony Tan Caktiong & family $2 B 61 fast food

#11 Robert Coyiuto, Jr. $1.8 B 61 power

#12 Lucio and Susan Co $1.7 B 59 Retailing

#13 Emilio Yap $1.5 B 88 Banking

#14 Manuel Villar $1.5 B 64 Real estate

#15 Inigo & Mercedes Zobel $1.2 B 58 Diversified

#16 Alfredo Yao $1 B 70 Diversified

#17 Andrew Gotianun $955 M 86 real estate

#18 Vivian Que Azcona & family $935 M - Retailing

#19 Eduardo Cojuangco $870 M 79 Food & drinks

#20 Beatrice Campos & family $825 M - Pharma

#21 Ricardo Po family $770 M - canned food

#22 Oscar Lopez & family $700 M 84 Media

#23 Alfonso Yuchengco & family $685 M 91 Diversified

#24 Roberto Ongpin $680 M 77 Diversified

#25 Betty Ang $670 M - Food

#26 Dean Lao $625 M 55 chemicals

#27 Manuel Zamora $620 M 74 Mining

#28 Carlos Chan $550 M 73 Foods

#29 Jorge Araneta $510 M - Real Estate

#30 Mariano Tan, Jr. $445 M 52 Pharmaceuticals

#31 Edgar Sia $390 M 37 Fast food

#32 Ramon Ang $380 M 60 Diversified

#33 Michael Romero $375 M 41 Ports

#34 Concepcion family $320 M - food

#35 Philip Ang $315 M 73 Mining

#36 Frederick Dy $310 M 59 Banking

#37 Luis Virata $300 M 60 Mining

#38 Alfredo Ramos & family $260 M 70 Diversified

#39
Wilfred Steven Uytengsu, Jr. &
family
$255 M 52 Milk

#40 Tomas Alcantara $250 M 68 Diversified

#41 Jose Antonio $240 M 67 Real estate

#42
Bienvenido Tantoco, Sr. &
family
$235 M 93 Retailing

#43 Jacinto Ng $230 M - Diversified

#44 Gilberto Duavit & family $200 M 79 Media

#45 Menardo Jimenez $195 M 82 Media
Entrepreneur Joseph Calata is the proverbial young man
in a hurry. Pushing 34, he is making a bid to have a huge
stake in the countrys food supply chain.

The chair and CEO of the agribusiness company, Calata
Corporation, initially made news by becoming the
countrys youngest self-made billionaire before he was 30
years old. He modernized the familys mom-and-pop store
into the countrys largest distributor of seeds, fertilizers,
pesticides.

When Calata Corp. was listed for initial public offering
(IPO) in May 2012, its stocks gained a total market value
of P4.3 billion.

As if selling agrochemicals, feeds and seeds wasnt
enough, Calata created his own brands, opened retail stores, went into joint venture
with foreign companies and acquired a meat processing company.
My business is literally going from the farm to the table, says Calata.

Own brands
He was inspired by the richest man in Southeast Asia, Dhanin Chearavanont, whose
business is CP Group, the biggest agricultural company in the region.

One of the Thai billionaires businesses is Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company
which produces animal feeds, breeds animals and processes them. The end products
are sold in the fastfoods and 7-11 stores. Chearavanont owns 6,800 of the 24-hour
stores all over Thailand.

Calata says hes now covering the entire food chain. In the initial phase of raw materials
and planting, Calata possesses the technology, the seeds and the preparations to ward
off pests.

He developed his own brand of pesticides, herbicides and insecticides called Agri and
opened 116 Agri stores in Luzon. Bullish about expanding, Calata commissioned
Franchise Corporation Philippines to produce the manual for the Agri franchise.

He also began producing ingredients for animal feeds with corn. For farming, he went
into partnership with an Argentinean firm to establish Siembra Directa Corp., which
enhances corn planting and harvesting using Argentinean machinery from planting to
harvesting.
The project was launched in Echague, Isabela, wherein the technology prepared the
land, planted the seeds, increased the yield and separated the kernels from the cobs.
The technology not only reduced the labor for land preparation and soil erosion but also
the farming costs and manpower.

We were the first to go into mechanized corn planting in the Philippines, says Calata.
The planting of the seeds and fertilizers is automatic. It only takes one person to plant
500 hectares. The technology makes farming faster, more efficient and everything is in
correct measure.

Calata teamed up the New Hope Group, Chinas biggest agribusiness company to
produce a new brand, Golden Bean animal feeds. To make the feeds, Calata imports
the soya beans from Argentina. The soya and the corn that Calata carries are then sent
to the feed mills of San Miguel Corp. to produce B-Meg and to New Hope Group to
make Golden Bean.

Calata explains that the Golden Bean and Agri are affordable options for the farmer. As
a businessman, he has a bigger mark-up for his products.

Bullish
In the processing phase, these feeds are given to hogs and chickens, many of which
are raised by Calatas contract growers for Magnolia and Monterey. On the other hand,
if the growers buy Golden Bean for their animals, Calata purchases the animals which
are then sent to their manufacturing plant.

Golden Bean has a buy-back program. These farmers have no problem. They buy the
feeds, we buy their hogs because we have the facility to process the meat and supply
the stores, says Calata.

He recently acquired a 51 percent stake at Galicia Group which supplies meat products
for retail. The pork and chicken meat that are part of Calatas food chain are under
Puregolds supermarket brand.

If you look at the company, we are doing everything from raw materials, processing
and end product. Thats our farm-to-plate model, he says.

Meanwhile, to keep the animals healthy Calata Corp. also ventured into veterinary
medicines under the Heisenberg brand.

Plans are afoot to plant cassava which is another ingredient for the feeds. Calata hopes
to venture into fruits and vegetable planting and rice planting. He reveals that the
company will soon venture into rice processing in partnership with Argentine partners
which will be done in Taiwan. Ultimately, he hopes to sell rice and produce in the
grocery.

Calatas five-year plan is to hit the P8 billion mark with all the expansions.

Cultivating life
At present, he says the companys revenues posted P1.5 billion last year. It could have
been worth more had he not suffered the stigma of the news about stock manipulation,
he says. Two weeks after its launch in 2012, Calatas stock rose dramatically from
P7.50 to P23.95 per share. Over time, the stock prices went into extreme fluctuation.
This set off an investigation by the Capital Markets Integrity Corp (CNIP), the
independent market regulatory unit of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The CNIP came across the uncharacteristic trading activities by certain individuals and
cleared Calatas name.

Now the shares are sold below IPO pricea little over P3. We know our company is
undervalued. It doesnt matter if the stocks are cheaper, as long as the public knows
that we are expanding, says Calata who has learned to embrace challenges that
come with success.

Last year, an advocate group circulated a list of distributors of Monsanto, an American
biotech company that produces genetically modified seeds. GMO (genetically modified
organisms) crops are engineered to resist pests, improve their quality and nutrition.
However, organic farmers and consumers have been protesting against Monsantos
grip of the global supply chain.

As a distributor, Calata explains that aside from Monsanto, other brands such as
Dupont and Syngenta also use biotechnology to produce more crops with more nutrition
to sustain more people. He reveals that majority of the farmers in the Philippines use
these brands since organic farming is costly.

Im not anti or pro GMO. What is important is that we can feed people. By 2040, the
population of the Philippines would have swelled to 9 billion. The land will be scarce. As
it gets smaller, we might not be able to feed 3 billion unless we use biotechnology. We
need to double the yield per hectare. If it is the same, by 2040, billions will starve. The
earth wont be able to supply enough food, explains Calata in Tagalog.

Ultimately, he says Calata Corporations evolution should echo tagline Cultivating Life.
Aside from putting food on the table, Calata Corporation has been providing
scholarships through the offices of Rep. Arnel Ty in Isabela and Mayor Tito Sarion in
Daet, Camarines Norte.

For every bag of Golden Beans, a portion of the sales goes to these scholarships,
notes Calata.

Although Calata dreams big, his family life is quiet. He is happily married to the former
Marnely Salvador and enjoys being a father to a 17-month-old Adriana Victoria. Theyd
rather spend the weekends at home or in Tagaytay at the Highlands or enjoying the
lake views from a bulaluhan place. When they travel, Calata likes the suburban life in
Orange County in California.
Im a simple guy at heart, he says.