The Philippines' wealthiest man Henry Sy, who rose from being a penniless Chinese immigrant to leading a multi-billion dollar business empire, died on Saturday, his conglomerate has announced. The 94-year-old, from the Chinese city of Xiamen, made his fortune with a Philippine shopping centre conglomerate that has put up some of the largest malls in the world.

However his holdings also included banks, hotels and real estate in the Philippines, as well as shopping centres in China. He had a net worth of $19 billion as of Friday, according to Forbes.com. Forbes said he was the 52nd richest person in the world last year, beating out bold name tycoons like Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch and George Soros. "Henry Sy... passed away peacefully in his sleep early Saturday morning. There are no further details at the moment," his SM group said in a statement to AFP.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019