Seven Vietnamese billionaires among world’s richest: Forbes

Apart from Bui Thanh Nhon, 64, chairman of the Nova Group, who breaks into the list for the first time, each of the other six has been on the Forbes annual ranking at least once. Real estate giant Nova Land Investment is the flagship company of the Nova Group.

Pham Nhat Vuong, 53, owner of Vietnam's biggest private conglomerate Vingroup and the country's first billionaire, is on the list for the tenth consecutive year.

He also remains Vietnam’s richest man with a net worth of $6.2 billion, down from $7.3 billion last year. Ranked 411th in the world, he is the only Vietnamese billionaire on the list that has seen total asset value drop from last year.

Vuong first made the list in 2013, when he was ranked 974th with a net worth of $1.5 billion.

He is followed by 61-year-old Tran Dinh Long, founder and chairman of steelmaker Hoa Phat Corp, with a net worth of $3.2 billion, up $1 billion from last year. Long stands 951st in this year's list, which marks the second time he has made it to the ranking.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, 51, has made the list for the sixth time with a net worth of $3.1 billion, ranking 984th. She is currently CEO of VietJet Air and president of Sovico Group, a leading investment group in Vietnam.

Nhon of Nova Group is in 1,053th place with a net worth of $2.9 billion.

Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh, 51, is on the list for the fourth time. His net worth stays at $2.3 billion, up from $1.6 billion last year.

Masan chairman Nguyen Dang Quang, 58, shows up on the list for the third time this year with a net worth of $1.9 billion while Tran Ba Duong, 62 chairmen and founder of the Truong Hai Auto Company (Thaco), has a net worth of $1.6 billion.

The Forbes listing used stock prices and exchange rates on March 11, 2022 to calculate the net worth of individuals.

This year, for the first time ever, Elon Musk has topped the World’s Billionaires list with a net worth of $219 billion. He is followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with $171 billion and French luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault with $158 billion.

The U.S. still leads the world with 735 billionaires worth a collective $4.7 trillion, followed by China (including Macau and Hong Kong) with 607 worth a collective $2.3 trillion.

According to Forbes, war, pandemic and sluggish markets have hit the world’s billionaires this year.

This year’s listing of 2,668 billionaires is 87 fewer than a year ago. Together, they are worth $12.7 trillion, which is $400 billion less than in 2021.

Forbes said the most dramatic drops have occurred in Russia and China, with the number of billionaires dropping by 34 and 87, respectively.