FACT CHECK: BBM is not the world’s richest president

The claim: President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ranks first in terms of wealth among presidents and kings in the world.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a video that was posted by the YouTube Channel Sa Iyong Araw, which currently has 162,000 subscribers. The video itself has 1,059,164 views and 2,150 comments as of writing. 

The facts: According to the video, the Marcoses have “trillions of dollars” in gold and have multiple bank accounts that amount to billions of dollars, making President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the richest world leader. Similar claims surrounding the Marcos family and their wealth have been debunked before by Rappler and VERA Files. 

There have been no mentions of Marcos in global lists of the richest individuals or richest world leaders. Marcos is not among Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, which is currently topped by French business magnate Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault. – Katarina Ruflo/Rappler.com

Katarina Ruflo is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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