Business career
After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Villar began his professional career working as an accountant for Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co).[7] He resigned from SGV & Co. to start his first business, delivering seafood in Makati.[10] However, when his largest customer was unable to pay him, he negotiated a debt restructuring of sorts, selling discounted meal tickets to office workers in exchange for receivables. He then worked briefly as a financial analyst for the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines, where his job was to sell World Bank loans.[4][3] Wanting to start a business of his own again, he quit his job and availed of one of the loans, which offered attractive rates.[4]
In 1975, with an initial capital of ₱10,000 1975, Villar purchased two reconditioned trucks and started a business delivering sand and gravel for construction companies in Las Piñas.[9][10] This eventually segued into building houses, as Villar took out a seven-year loan from a rural bank offering low interest rates. He initiated mass housing projects through economies of scale, utilizing the cost advantages of developing a large-scale project in order to bring down housing prices.[10] The number of homes built by Villar's companies totaled to over 200,000 units.
In the 1980s, Villar established Prime Water to operate and maintain water distribution systems throughout the country.[11] It counts a 25-year partnership with the municipality of Daraga to deliver bulk water,[11] a 25-year joint venture agreement with Lingayen Water District in Pangasinan,[11] and a 25-year joint agreement with the Leyte Metropolitan Water District[12] among its 30 water projects with local water districts. The Commission on Audit's 2018 annual report flagged Prime Water's operations in Guagua, Pampanga, due to high levels of arsenic.[13] The company produces over 170 million liters of treated water daily, supplied by more than 250 deep wells and surface water resources, and is directly involved in delivering water to more than 150,000 households across the Philippines. Now under the Villar Group of Companies, the water utility firm is led by their eldest son, Paolo.[14]
In 1984, he founded Golden Haven Memorial Park, a chain of cemeteries in the Philippines, started with its first branch in Las Piñas and expanded in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Bulacan, and Iloilo. It also expanded into the businesses of memorial chapel, crematorium and columbarium.[15]
In July 1995, Villar's flagship property, C&P Homes, was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange and grew by more than a third in one day, ballooning Villar's 80% stake in the company to US$1.5 billion. A few years later during the presidency of Joseph Estrada and with him being Speaker of the House of Representatives, controversy arose regarding its default as a fall-out from the Asian Financial Crisis and negotiation of restructuring.[16]
Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc, a family-owned business of Villar, is also listed in the privately owned Philippine Stock Exchange. Their shares of stocks were bought primarily by foreign funds which had given the government, as well as the PSE, good revenues.[17]
Villar has received several awards for his achievements during his professional and business career, including being one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1986, the Agora Award for Marketing Management in 1989, Most Outstanding CPA by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1990, and Most Outstanding UP Alumnus in 1991.[3] In 2004, he was named the Most Distinguished Alumnus, the highest recognition given by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association.[3]
In a report of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on offshore leaks in April 2013, Villar was listed among the businessmen with offshore accounts. It was revealed that Villar owned an account in the British Virgin Islands.[18]
In 2015, the MB Villar Group formed another company, Vitacare Healthgroup, Inc., to build chain of hospitals nationwide. Its first project Vitacare Unimed Hospital & Medical Center (in partnership with Unimed) will be located in Vista City, Las Piñas will be fully operated in 2018.[19]
As of September 2018, Forbes magazine ranks him as the 2nd-wealthiest person in the Philippines, with his net worth of US$5 billion or ₱269 billion.[20] However, his statements of assets and liabilities (SALN) filed for the year 2012 states his net worth at ₱1.453 billion.[21]
In 2019, Forbes magazine named Villar as the new richest individual in the Philippines, with an estimated net worth of $5.5 billion, surpassing Henry Sy Sr.[22] In 2021, his net worth surged to approximately $6.7 billion despite being overtaken by the Sy siblings in Forbes ' annual Philippines rich list.[23]
Villar became the richest individual again surpassing Enrique Razon in March 2025, after his company Golden MV Holdings, Inc. (Villar Land) reportedly profitted ₱1 trillion due to fair value gains linked to Villar City.[24] However Villar's net worth dropped to $8.4 billion in November 2025 being $2 billion poorer.[25][26] This is atributted to the valuation controversy associated with Villar Land.[26] Razon is the richest Filipino individual once again with $13 billion net worth.[26]
