Nguyen is the only Vietnamese female entrepreneur that makes this year’s list at the place of No 1,111.
Vietjet’s President and CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao secure her billion-dollar fortune remark on the annual Forbes’s world billionaires list for the fifth consecutive year despite the grave impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation industry.
With her fortune estimated at US$2.8 billion, Nguyen is the only Vietnamese female entrepreneur that makes this year’s list at the place of No 1,111. She is the President-cum-CEO of Vietjet Air and the Vice President of HDBank. Nguyen has been hailed as one of the top 100 persons transforming the world of business in Asia, according to Business Insider, and is also the first and only self-made female billionaire in Southeast Asia.
Stricken hard by the pandemic, Vietjet, under the leadership of CEO Nguyen, however, managed to be one of few airlines in the world stay aloft and turn a profit with all staff remained employed. The carrier, in the meantime, is ready to resume both domestic and international flights as soon as possible.
Nguyen’s fortune comes from diversified portfolios, including Vietjet Air, HDBank, real estate and several energy and technology projects.
The Forbes’ only female billionaire of Vietnam this year is also listed among 110 most influential persons in Asia in terms of philanthropy, according to Tatler magazine. Nguyen is particularly well-known for her dedication to anti-COVID programs and the national COVID-19 Vaccine Fund. She also initiated the solution for the technical glitch that had caused a trading outage at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE).
Apart from Nguyen, another five Vietnamese making into the Forbes billionaire list in 2021 is Pham Nhat Vuong, Tran Dinh Long, Ho Hung Anh, Tran Ba Duong and Nguyen Dang Quang.
While the pandemic continues to undermine the global economy, the number of billionaires this year has rocketed to an all-time high of 2,755 persons as of July 9, 2021. It has increased by 660 persons year on year, of which the number of newcomers has also set a new record of 493 billionaires.
The U.S. is home to up to 724 world billionaires, closely followed by China (including Hong Kong and Macau) with 698 persons. The top 2 richest men on earth now are both American: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is at No. 1 whose fortune is estimated at US$177 billion, and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk ranks at the number two spot with a total net worth around US$151 billion.
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