Vietnamese stock market finds its first billionaire

Pham Nhat Vuong

Vuong is now a member of the board of directors of Vincom Joint Stock Company, (traded under VIC), as well as Vinpearl Joint Stock Company (traded under VPL).

With sharp increases in the prices of VPL and VCI stocks, Vuong’s total asset value in the domestic stock market has increased to VND21.044 trillion (over $1 billion) from the VND15.776 trillion ($754.8 million) reported on December 29, 2010.

Based on the new VND/USD exchange rate of VND20,900/USD, Vuong has become the first USD billionaire by trading in the Vietnamese stock market.

Following Vuong on the list of top-ten richest investors, is Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group (traded under the symbol HAG) with total share value of VND10.163 trillion ($486.2 million), and Dang Thanh Tam, chairman of Saigon Invest Group, with VND3.55 trillion ($169.8 million).

Vuong’s wife, Pham Thu Huong, has become the fourth richest investor, with VND3.227 trillion ($154.4 million). She was ranked as 6th in the list of top-ten richest investors, with VND2.262 trillion ($108.2 million), as of December 29, 2010.

Pham Thuy Hang, member of the board of directors of Vincom Joint Stock Company, stands at the 5th, followed by Tran Dinh Long, chairman of Hoa Phat Group; Ha Van Tham, chairman of Dai Duong Group; and Ho Hung Anh, member of the board of directors of Masan Group.

Pham Nhat Vuong, was born in 1968, in central Ha Tinh province. In 1993, he was the founder of Technocom Ltd. Co. (then later called as Technocom Group) in Kharkov, Ukraine, focusing on instant noodle production.

In 2001, Vuong came back to Vietnam to set up Vincom and Vinpearl. In September, 2009, the main headquarters of Technocom Group were moved to Hanoi and the name changed into Vingroup.