Leandro Leviste

Leandro Antonio Legarda Leviste (born March 18, 1993) is a Filipino billionaire, businessman, and politician who has served as the representative for Batangas's first district since 2025. He is the son of former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste and Senator Loren Legarda.

Leviste founded the solar energy company Solar Philippines in 2013. With its subsidiary SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) becoming a public company in 2021, he became the youngest-ever chairman of a company on the Philippine Stock Exchange. In 2024, Manila Bulletin named him as the youngest self-made billionaire in the Philippines.

After selling his controlling stake in SPNEC to Meralco in 2023, Leviste ran for Congress in the 2025 elections as an independent candidate, defeating the incumbent representative Eric Buhain with the most votes in any congressional race in the history of Batangas.

Leviste was born on March 18, 1993, to former Batangas Governor Antonio Leviste and broadcaster Loren Legarda, who would later serve as a Philippine Senator.^[1][2] In 2003, Leviste was featured as a gifted child in a Wyeth's Promil milk TV commercial.^[3]

Leviste first became interested in building a solar power business in the Philippines in 2013. He was interning at Meralco during a summer break from Yale University, where he was studying political science. Leviste was intrigued by Elon Musk’s companies, Tesla, Inc. and SolarCity, which led him to feel there was an opportunity at home to supply solar power more cheaply than what Filipinos were paying for electricity generated from fossil fuels.^[4]

In 2013, Leviste founded Solar Philippines.^[5] The company completed the Calatagan Solar Farm in 2016 and began operating its Tarlac solar farm in 2019. In 2021, Solar Philippines subsidiary SP New Energy Corporation (SPNEC) became the first-ever solar company to perform an initial public offering in the Philippines. As a result, Leviste became the youngest Chairman and CEO of a company on the Philippine Stock Exchange.^[6] In 2024, the Manila Bulletin named him the youngest self-made billionaire in the Philippines.^[7]

Meralco invested ₱15.90 billion in primary shares of SPNEC for the construction of SPNEC’s 3500 MW Meralco Terra Solar Farm in Nueva Ecija, the world’s single largest solar-battery project. In 2024, SPNEC, under Meralco’s leadership, was able to raise the funding from banks and foreign investors for the ₱200 billion project, including the largest foreign investment for an infrastructure project in Philippine history.^[6]

Between 2023 and 2025, Leviste sold 14.60 billion shares of SPNEC to Meralco from Leviste for ₱18.26 billion and 1.84 billion shares of SPNEC to public shareholders for ₱2.23 billion. In total, Leviste has sold 16.44 billion shares for ₱20.49 billion. After these transactions, Leviste still owns 8.16 billion shares of SPNEC.^[6]

Leviste has invested in media by buying a 10% in media giant ABS-CBN Corporation, making him its largest shareholder after its parent company Lopez Holdings Corporation^[8] Through Countryside Investments Holdings Corporation, Leviste has also announced plans to invest ₱5 billion in Roxas Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc.^[9][1]

In 2025, Leviste acquired Solidaridad Bookshop in Ermita, Manila, from the heirs of National Artist and author F. Sionil José.^[10] In 2026, he bought a house in Wilhelmsfeld, Germany, where Jose Rizal completed his novel Noli Me Tángere in the late 19th century.^[11]

In the 2025 election, Leviste ran for representative in Batangas's first district, based in the Western portion of the province. Challenging incumbent representative Eric Buhain, he ran on a platform that sought greater support from the national government for the development of his constituency.^[12]

Leviste went on to defeat Buhain in a landslide, receiving 74.58% of the votes, the largest share for a candidate challenging an incumbent that year. His raw vote total of 268,764 is the highest received by any candidate in a congressional race in the history of Batangas.^[12]

On the first day of his term on June 30, 2025, Leviste filed House Bill No. 27 to provide a monthly allowance of ₱1,000 to every Filipino student, from kindergarten to college, regardless of their socioeconomic status.^[13]

In February 2026, Leviste entered negotiations to sell his remaining 16.3% stake in SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC) to foreign investors, including the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui & Co., to prevent conflict of interest as a public official.^[14][15]

On August 26, 2025, Leviste filed bribery and corruption cases against suspended Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Batangas first district Engineer Abelardo Calalo before the Office of the Batangas Provincial Prosecutor, alleging that Calalo attempted to bribe him ₱3.1 million to stop a House probe into alleged corruption involving DPWH’s flood control and infrastructure projects in the district.^[16][17] He also urged Calalo to serve as a state witness in such an investigation.^[18]

• Media related to Leandro Leviste at Wikimedia Commons