Vietnam billionaire count rises to 5 on Forbes list

By Dat Nguyen   March 5, 2019 | 06:17 am PT
The number of billionaires in Vietnam has risen to five in Forbes magazine’s 2019 list of world’s richest people released Tuesday.

The newcomer is Ho Hung Anh, chairman of the Vietnam Technological & Commercial Joint-Stock Bank, or Techcombank.

He made to the list with a net worth of $1.7 billion, ranked 1,349th in the world.

Hung Anh started out by trading goods between Eastern Europe and Vietnam in the 1990s and invested in Techcombank in 1995.

Last year it was the second highest bank in terms of after tax profits of VND8.46 trillion ($363.48 million), behind Vietcombank.

Nguyen Dang Quang, chairman and founder of private food producer Masan Group, also made to the billionaire list for the first time this year.

Nguyen Dang Quang (L) and Ho Hung Anh enters 2019 Forbes billionaire list for the first time. Photo (L) courtesy of Forbes Vietnam and (R) acquired by VnExpress.

Nguyen Dang Quang (L) and Ho Hung Anh enter 2019 Forbes rich list for the first time. Photo (L) courtesy of Forbes Vietnam and (R) acquired by VnExpress.

With a net worth of $1.3 billion, he was ranked the 1,717th richest person in the world.

Quang founded Masan in 2004. The company now is a major producer of fish sauce and packaged food. It also owns about 20 percent of Techcombank.

Three other billionaires who were listed last year remain in this year’s list: Pham Nhat Vuong, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and Tran Ba Duong.

Pham Nhat Vuong, owner of Vietnam's biggest real estate conglomerate Vingroup, is on the list for the seventh consecutive year, ranked 239th.

He remains the richest person in Vietnam with a net worth of $6.6 billion, a $2.3 billion increase compared to last year.

Pham Nhat Vuong remains the richest person in Vietnam. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Pham Nhat Vuong remains the richest person in Vietnam. Photo acquired by VnExpress

CEO of budget carrier Vietjet Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao was listed for the third time with a net worth of $2.3 billion, down from $3.1 billion last year, ranked 1,008th.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao was listed on Forbest billionaire list for the third time. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao was listed on Forbes billionaire list for the third time. Photo by Reuters/Kham

Tran Ba Duong, chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco), made to the list for the second time at $1.7 billion, down $0.1 billion from last year, ranked 1,349th.

Duong founded Thaco in 1997 and the company later started assembling cars for foreign brands such as Kia, Mazda and Peugeot, as well as producing its own buses and trucks. 

Tran Ba Duong is the chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco). Photo acquired by VnExpress

Tran Ba Duong is the chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco). Photo acquired by VnExpress

Tran Dinh Long, chairman of steel maker Hoa Phat Corporation, was not listed this year after making his debut last year.

Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos remains the richest person in the world this year with a net worth of $131 billion, followed by Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates at $96.5 billion and Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffet at $82.5 billion.

 
 
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