Five Vietnamese billionaires make Forbes 2019 list

Forbes has released its annual list of the world's billionaires including five billionaires from Vietnam, with two newcomers compared to the 2018 list.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (L) and Pham Nhat Vuong
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (L) and Pham Nhat Vuong

According to the Forbes World's Billionaires list 2019, the five richest Vietnamese people are Pham Nhat Vuong, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Tran Ba Duong and the two newcomers of Nguyen Dang Quang and Ho Hung Anh.

Pham Nhat Vuong, with a net worth of US$6.6 billion, is ranked 239th among the world’s richest people. This is the seventh year in a row that Pham Nhat Vuong has been named on the famed ranking.

Vuong chairs Vingroup, one of Vietnam's largest conglomerates with interests in real estate, retail and healthcare among others.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, with a net worth of US$2.3 billion, is ranked 1008th on the list. Thao is Vietnam's first self-made woman billionaire who launched her budget airline, VietJet Air, in 2011. She also has investments in HD Bank and real estate,including three beach resorts.

Tran Ba Duong, with a net worth of US$1.7 billion, is ranked 1349th among the elite club of billionaires. Duong founded Truong Hai (Thaco) in 1997 which initially sold cars and later started assembling cars for foreign brands such as Kia, Mazda and Peugeot.

Of the two newcomers, Nguyen Dang Quang ranked 1717th with a net worth of US$1.3 billion and Ho Hung Anh ranked 1349th on the list with a net worth of US$1.7 billion..

Ho Hung Anh is chairman of Techcombank and Nguyen Dan Quang is chairman of Masan Group.

According to Forbes, both the number of billionaires and their combined net worth are down compared to the previous year. In 2018, 2,208 people made the list with a combined wealth of US$9.1 trillion, while 2,153 people entered the list this year with a combined wealth of US$8.7 trillion.