2020 was a difficult year for the global economy including Viet Nam, but some Viet Namese billionaires still saw their net asset value increase.

The six richest people in Viet Nam as of January 6.

According to Forbes, besides five familiar faces which were included on its World Billionaires list in 2019, there is the return of one businessman – Tran Dinh Long. The recovery of Viet Nam’s stock market at the end of 2020 after tumbling in March contributed to the positive result.

The VN-Index ended the last trading day of 2020 at 1,103.87 points, rising nearly 15 percent compared to the beginning of the year.

As of January 6, Pham Nhat Vuong, Chairman of Vingroup (VIC), is still the richest man in Viet Nam, with a net worth of 7 billion USD, an increase of 139 million USD compared to the day before. VIC shares traded at 110,000 VND, up 0.27 percent in the morning trading session.

The CEO of budget carrier Vietjet Air (VJC), Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, remains the second richest person in Viet Nam with total assets of 2.5 billion USD, down 33 million USD from the day before. The airline industry has been hit hard due to Covid-19 with all commercial international flights halted. The price of VJC shares was at 123,900 VND in the morning session on January 6, down 0.72 percent.

Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of the Board of Hoa Phat Group, has returned to the race, ranking 1,455th in the magazine’s list and becoming the third richest man in Viet Nam. As of January 6, his assets value increased 17 million USD to 2.1 billion USD.

Hoa Phat produced near 5.2 million tonnes of steel in the first eleven months of 2020 and sold more than 3 million tonnes of construction steel to the market, up 23.7 percent year-on-year, according to Hoa Phat’s website.

Ho Hung Anh, Chairman of Techcombank, is 1,628th in the current ranking with total assets of 1.8 billion USD, increasing 18 million USD.

Thanks to the recovery of the stock market, Masan’s share prices increased sharply in the last months of 2020 which helped founder Nguyen Dang Quang’s net worth rise 33 million USD to 1.5 billion USD.

After a deal to acquire retail system VinCommerce at the end of 2019, the price of Masan shares fell dramatically and hit a bottom last April. But it recovered and in the last trading day of 2020, the company’s shares price was up more than 50 percent compared to the beginning of the year to 85,500 VND.

In the morning trading session, the shares traded at 89,500 VND, up 0.22 percent.

Meanwhile, Tran Ba Duong, Chairman of the Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO), and his family saw the value of his assets unchanged at 1.5 billion USD as of January 5. He and his family rank at 1,905th in the world’s richest person list.

However, not all business people could weather the chaotic year.

Trinh Van Quyet, President of FLC Group (FLC) and Bamboo Airways, saw his assets drop under 1 billion USD at the end of 2020. He was the richest person in Viet Nam in 2017 and has been listed in the top three richest people in Viet Nam a number of times.

He withdrew as board chairman of FLC Faros Construction in April, when the market was hit hard by Covid-19. FLC shares traded at 4,470 VND on January 6 morning, down 0.45 percent.

Source: VNA