Sy siblings


The Sy siblings are a group of six Filipino-Chinese businesspeople who are children of Henry Sy Sr. and Felicidad Tan. Recognized as belonging to the richest family in the Philippines, they as collective have often been noted by Forbes to be the richest in terms of net worth since Henry Sy Sr's death in 2019 until 2024. Each six siblings are U.S. dollar billionaires in their own right as of 2025, also according to Forbes.

Early lives

The Sy siblings are children of Henry Sy Sr. and Felicidad Tan. Henry Sr., a migrant from Fukien, China is known for his role in developing the SM Supermalls brand from a shoe store which opened in Carriedo, Manila in 1958. The siblings were born within the first nine years of marriage of Herny Sy and Felicia Tan – Teresita, Elizabeth, Henry Jr., Hans, Herbert, and Harley.
Henry Sr. starts training the Sy siblings in the family business when they reach 13-years old. They are often given tours in SM stores during the weekends and are given menial tasks. Hans Sy recalled working as a trash can cleaner, cash clerk and sales clerk within the family business.
Teresita attended the Assumption College. while her younger sister Elizabeth graduated from Maryknoll College. All four brothers attended the De La Salle University.

Members

All six siblings grew up to be businesspeople who have executive roles within their family's SM Group.

Teresita Sy

Teresita Sy-Coson is the eldest among six siblings. At 22-years old, she was entrusted to by his father to help open the first branch of SM Department Store two months into the Martial law era under president Ferdinand Marcos. Sy-Coson is the chairperson on Banco de Oro and oversaw the bank's merger with Equitable PCI Bank which was initiated in 2004. She was married to lumber businessman Louis Coson who died in 2003

Elizabeth Sy

Elizabeth Sy is the president of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. the arm of the SM Group which manages hotels and convention centers established in 2008.

Henry Sy Jr.

Henry "Bigboy" Sy Jr. became the director of SM Prime in 1994 and later its board chairman in 2014.
Sy Jr. was president and CEO of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, a privately-owned transmission company which operates and maintains, and owns the Philippine power grid portions acquired and designated from its turnover from National Transmission Corporation under Department of Energy of the Philippine government on January 15, 2009 that marked TransCo's privatization in grid operations, maintenance, construction, expansion, and eminent domain except ownership of portions with acquisition and designation made by its predecessor National Power Corporation and TransCo itself, for eight years from June 20, 2010 to March 7, 2018.
He is also the founder of the Big Boss Cement which he set up in 2017. Big Boss' products are based on pozzolanic sand rather than limestone-derived clinker.
Sy Jr. is a member of the Christ's Commission Fellowship.

Hans Sy

Hans Sy is the fourth eldest. He is the chairman of SM Prime. He has been director of the company since 1994. Hans was also president of SM Prime until 2016.
He was enstrusted by Henry Sr. to oversaw the construction of The SM Center North EDSA which opened in 1985.
Sy is also chairman of China Bank and the National University.

Herbert Sy

Herbert Sy is the second youngest son among the siblings. He is the director of SM Prime.

Harley Sy

Harley Sy is the youngest among the siblings and fourth son of Henry Sy. He is the executive director of SM Investments and director of China Bank.

Wealth

The Sy siblings are grouped as one entry by Forbes in wealth rankings. In 2024, they collectively are the top entry in Forbes Asia's 'Philippines' 50 Richest' list with the net worth of $11.1 billion as of 2024. They were first recognized as the richest in the Philippines in 2019 following their father's death with a collective net worth of $17.2 billion.
In the 2025 Forbes’ Billionaires however, the Sy siblings were listed separately – Henry Sy Jr., Hans Sy, Herbert Sy, Harley Sy, Teresita Sy-Coson and Elizabeth Sy. They ranked sixth to eleventh richest in the Philippines. Manny Villar is the top Filipino entry at $17.2-billion.