Vietnam scores a Forbes high with six billionaires

The five men and one woman have a total net worth of $16.7 billion.

Pham Nhat Vuong, owner of Vietnam's biggest private conglomerate Vingroup and the country's first billionaire, is on the list for the ninth consecutive year. He remains Vietnam’s richest man with a net worth of $7.3 billion (up $1.7 billion compared to 2020) and ranked 344th in the world. Vuong first made the list in 2013, when he was ranked 974th with a net worth of $1.5 billion.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao made the list for the fifth time with a net worth of $2.8 billion, ranking 1,111th. Thao is currently the vice chairwoman of HDBank, vice president and CEO of VietJet Air.

Tran Ba Duong, chairman and founder of the Truong Hai Auto Company (Thaco), has been in the Forbes list since 2018. His current net worth is $1.6 billion and he is ranked 1,931st in the world. Thaco initially sold only automobiles, but gradually expanded to car assembly for foreign brands like Kia, Mazda and Peugeot, as well as manufacturing Vietnamese branded buses and trucks.

Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh is on the list for the third time. His net worth is the same as that of Duong.

Masan chairman Nguyen Dang Quang has returned to the list after being absent last year. His net worth is $1.2 billion.

Tran Dinh Long, chairman of the Hoa Phat Group, also re-entered the Forbes list after his first appearance in 2018. He is worth is $2.2 billion and ranked 1,444th in the world.

Forbes has said it created the list by evaluating an individual's assets based on the stock price and exchange rate as of March 5, 2021.

The richest person in the world this year is still Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, with a worth of $177 billion. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is second with $151 billion, followed by LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault ($150 billion) and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($124 billion).