And obtaining his bachelor's degree, Villar began his professional career working as an accountant

for Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co.(SGV & Co), the country's largest accounting firm.[10] He resigned
from SGV & Co. to start his first business, delivering seafood inMakati.[7] 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.[3] 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.[2][6] Wanting to start a business of his own again, he quit his job and availed of one of the
loans, which offered attractive rates.[2]
In 1975, with an initial capital of P10,000, Villar purchased two reconditioned trucks and started a
business delivering sand and gravel for construction companies in Las Pias. [4][7] This eventually
segued into building houses, as Villar took out a seven-year loan from a rural bank offering low
interest rates,.[3] From the loan, he kick-started building and selling homes at his first project, Camella
Homes Phase 1 and 2 in Las Pias,[11] initially with 160 units and would have resulted to be the
country's largest home building company, with an emphasis on low-priced mass housing. [6] A notable
innovation of Villar's companies was to sell house and lot packages, when the common practice at
the time was to sell lots for future homeonwers to build upon. [7] 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.[7] The number of homes built by Villar's companies totaled to over
200,000 units.[3]
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 $1.5 billion.
Villar had concentrated on low-cost housings which were bought by the home buyers themselves,
giving opportunities for the low and middle income Filipino families to acquire homes. He also
wanted to set an example to Filipino entrepreneurs that what they set their mind on can be achieved.
[12]

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. [13]
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.[6] In 2004, he was named the Most Distinguished
Alumnus, the highest recognition given by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association. [6]

As of 2014, Forbes magazine ranks him as the 14th wealthiest person in the Philippines, with his net
worth of US$1.460 billion or 63.758 billion (43.67 exchange rate). [14]However, his statements of
assets and liabilities (SALN) filed for the year 2012 states his net worth at P1.453 billion. [15]