Manila financial community is shocked
Manuel Villar - the richest billionaire in the Philippines - has transferred ownership of a plot of land in the group to another company in the same system, then announced that the value of this plot of land has skyrocketed by 25,000%, from 93 million USD to 23.3 billion USD.
This incredible real estate price increase, announced by Golden MV Holdings - Mr. Villar's listed company - in March, shocked the Manila financial community.
The auditors refused to confirm the report, the securities management agency suspended trading in stocks and opened an investigation. Finally, Golden MV had to reduce the value of the land to 99%, almost returning to the original level.
The case has attracted public attention back to the business empire, which has led Villar, from a poor background in a slum, to become the top billionaire in the Philippines, with a fortune of 22.9 billion USD, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Golden MV specializes in developing cemeteries, memorial parks and low-cost housing, with annual revenue of less than 100 million USD, but its shares are traded at more than 1,000 times the profit on the Philippine stock exchange. Mr. Villar and related parties hold 89% of outstanding shares.
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined the company and senior management for late payment of financial reports, and said it is still considering the possibility of criminal prosecution in this real estate price inflation case. Golden MV has filed an appeal.
The land with shocking price increases and then price decreases related to the richest person in the Philippines is located in front of the Brittany Hotel, the southern edge of Manila. This 366ha land belongs to the project that billionaire Villar calls Villar City to turn the urban cluster of half a Manhattan, New York, USA, into the new center of the capital Manila.
From a fish and shrimp seller in the market to a USD billionaire
Born in the Tondo hamlet, near Manila port, Villar sold fish and shrimp in the market to earn money to go to school. After obtaining a MBA degree from the University of the Philippines, he bought a truck carrying sand and gravel for the construction site and then switched to a housing business.
He founded Golden MV in 1982, turning the company into the largest cemetery and memorial park chain in the Philippines, a highly developed field in this Southeast Asian country. He then expanded to affordable housing, banks, department stores and supermarkets.
On September 30, 2024, Golden MV spent $93 million to buy back 3 companies controlled by Mr. Villar himself, each company owning a part of the above land. According to the records, this price reflects the book value of the companies.
Six months later, Golden MV released a preview of the annual financial report, in which the land was valued according to the "reasonable value" method, pushing the value up to 23.3 billion USD, or 25,000%. The company recorded this as a one-time profit, helping the profit in 2024 reach 17.2 billion USD, a record in the Philippines, surpassing both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
The prolonged audit process has caused Golden MV to delay the submission of financial statements for 2024 and the first and second quarters of 2025. Finally, the company had to re-evaluate the land according to the original price, reducing the total value to 148 million USD.
In August this year, the management agency determined that Golden MV's arbitrary release of un audited financial statements demonstrated "disregard for legal obligations", and fined the company 400,000 USD with an additional fine calculated daily until it submitted a full audit report.
