Vietnamese billionaires’ net worth drops $6.1 billion

As of December 26, Vietnam had six billionaires, down from seven in March, according to real-time data from Forbes. The business magazine usually releases its world’s billionaire list in March of each year.

The combined net worth of Vietnam’s billionaires fell by 33% to $12.3 billion during the nine-month period.

Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong remains the richest man in Vietnam, with a net worth $4 billion, down 35% for the nine-month period. This was his lowest net worth since 2017.

Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate, saw its VIC share price fall by half to VND53,000 ($2.2).

Vuong is now the 685th richest man in the world, down a whopping 270 places from March.

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of budget airline Vietjet, is the second richest person in Vietnam with net assets of $2.3 billion, a decline of 26% since March.

Vietjet’s VJC shares have declined by the same rate to around VND110,000 per share.

The airline is set to post a VND1.3 trillion profit this year. The recovery of the China market, which is important for Vietnam, would benefit the company’s earnings, brokerage VNDirect said in a report.

Techcombank Chairman Ho Hung Anh’s net worth fell by 30% to $1.6 billion between March and December.

He was followed by Tran Ba Duong, chairman of automaker Thaco and his family, who have a net worth of $1.5 billion, a decline of 6%.

Nguyen Dang Quang, chairman of the Masan Group, and Tran Dinh Long, chairman of the Hoa Phat Group, secured the last places on Vietnam’s list of billionaires, each with a net worth of $1.4 billion.