APD | Vietnam has five in Forbes billionaires list
By APD writer Alice
Hanoi, March 8 (APD) – Five Vietnamese have been named among the world’s billionaires in a list recently revealed by Forbes, one more person than last year.
Chairman of conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong was ranked 239th in the list and is also the richest person in Vietnam with total assets worth 6.6 billion USD, up 2.3 billion USD from last year. He entered the Forbes rankings for the first time in 2013 in 974th position with total assets of 1.5 billion USD.
CEO of Vietjet Air Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao stood at 1,008th position with total assets of 2.3 billion USD.
With total assets of 1.7 billion USD, chairman of car assembler Truong Hai (Thaco) Tran Ba Duong is the third richest in Vietnam and ranks 1,349th in the world.
These three billionaires were also present in Forbes’ rich list last year.
The latest rankings saw two new names from Vietnam: Chairman of Techcombank Ho Hung Anh and Chairman of Masan Group Nguyen Dang Quang.
Anh and Quang have total assets worth 1.7 billion USD and 1.3 billion USD, respectively ranking 1,349th and 1,717th in the world.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Hoa Phat Group Tran Dinh Long fell out of the list.
The top positions in the global rankings belong to founder and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos (131 billion USD), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (96.5 billion USD) and investor Warren Buffet (82.5 billion USD).
Forbes’ 33rd rankings consist of 2,153 billionaires, 55 fewer than last year. They are worth 8.7 trillion USD in total, down 400 billion USD.
The billionaires club welcomed 195 newcomers worth 392 billion USD this year. 71 percent were self-made, with their fortune made in at least 16 industries including real estate, technology, retail and fashion. However, the largest number of people since 2009 during the global financial crisis – 247 – dropped off the list.
Of the 33 countries that saw citizens added to the list, China was home to more new billionaires than anywhere else.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
