Billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and the new "link" that few people know about

The soaring stock prices of businesses in the ecosystem have brought billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao's total assets to an all-time high of 3.6 billion USD (updated by Forbes on the afternoon of September 4).

Since the beginning of the year, HDBank 's HDB shares have increased by 27.5% to VND33,100/unit, the highest level in 3 years. The number of HDB shares held by Ms. Thao personally and through Sovico Joint Stock Company is up to about 526.7 million shares, estimated to be worth about VND17,433 billion.

At the same time, Vietjet Air's VJC shares have also unexpectedly increased in the past month, to 140,000 VND/unit, also the highest in 3 years and up nearly 43% since the beginning of the year. Currently, Ms. Thao owns 47.47 million VJC shares. Through Huong Duong Sunny Investment Co., she holds an additional nearly 155 million VJC shares. The total value of 202.4 million VJC shares that Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao holds is estimated at approximately 28,346 billion VND.

Thus, in just about 8 months this year, this self-made billionaire has added nearly 1 billion USD. Ms. Thao is now the second richest person in Vietnam, just behind Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong.

Got my first million dollars at the age of 21

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao was born in 1970 in Hanoi, known as one of the few lucky Vietnamese businesswomen who had the opportunity to study Economics and Finance at university in the Soviet Union when she was 17 years old. She quickly became famous in the community not only for her excellent academic achievements but also for her innate business talent.

While still a second-year student, taking advantage of the Eastern European market being in a state of scarcity, Ms. Thao started a business from electronics, computers, fax machines to tapes, watches, and even "trading" agricultural products from Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Hong Kong (China) to Eastern Europe. She also brought to Vietnam scarce and necessary market items such as equipment, steel, fertilizers, etc.

Just a few years later, Ms. Thao had her first 1 million USD at the age of 21. Returning to Vietnam, she focused on investing in two main areas: finance and real estate. In particular, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao's name is largely associated with the low-cost airline Vietjet Air.

Billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and the new link that few people know about - 1

The name Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is associated with the airline Vietjet Air (Photo: Vietjet Air).

Vietjet Air received its business license in 2007, oriented to develop a low-cost airline model. To date, the airline has become a private airline with a large market share in the industry.

Despite numerous scandals, Vietjet Air has continued to grow and expand. Before Covid-19, the airline earned billions of dollars in revenue, equivalent to thousands of billions of dong in profits each year. Now, this figure has returned to its golden age.

According to the business results report for the first 6 months of 2025, Vietjet Air achieved aviation revenue of VND 35,600 billion, pre-tax profit of nearly VND 1,600 billion, up 37% over the same period. Consolidated revenue reached VND 35,800 billion, pre-tax profit reached over VND 1,600 billion, up 65% over the same period.

By the end of the second quarter of 2025, the airline will operate a total of 154 routes (109 international routes and 45 domestic routes). The airline will operate nearly 41,000 flights, transporting 7.5 million passengers. The total volume of cargo transported in the quarter will reach nearly 29,000 tons.

As of June 30, 2025, the company's total assets reached more than VND 112,330 billion, the debt/equity ratio was 1.76 times and the liquidity ratio was 1.44 times, at a good liquidity level in the aviation industry.

Steering a multi-industry ecosystem with her husband

In addition to aviation, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao also invests in real estate through Sovico Holdings - a company known for many large real estate investment deals in both Vietnam and abroad.

Sovico Holdings currently operates in four main areas: real estate; financial investment - banking; electricity - energy and aviation. Sovico Holdings is also a founding shareholder of the private airline VietJet Air. Some of the notable deals of this unit include the acquisition of Furama resort, L'Alyana Ninh Van Bay and Ana Mandara Cam Ranh (Khanh Hoa), Phu Long Real Estate Joint Stock Company (investor of Dragon City project in the center of Ho Chi Minh City)...

In addition, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is also holding the position of Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of HDBank. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao's husband - is also a businessman of the 6X-7X generation who started his career in Eastern Europe. Currently, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung and his wife hold key positions at Sovico Group, HDBank, Dong Do Petroleum Joint Stock Company, and Vietjet Air.

Mr. Hung and Mrs. Thao's eldest son is Nguyen Phuoc Hung Anh Victor (English name is Tommy Nguyen). Unlike many "F2 generation" of Vietnamese tycoons, Nguyen Phuoc Hung Anh Victor did not work at his parents' company but started his own business.

In a rare public appearance in the media, Nguyen Phuoc Hung Anh Victor was introduced as the co-founder of start-up Swift 247 - a technology that provides super-fast delivery services via air.

A little-known new link – appearing in the 100 billion funding case for the AI "heart" of Da Nang

Sharp and up-to-date in business, in the context of technology explosion, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao's ecosystem has just had an AI enterprise, Galaxy Holdings - a new "link" that few people know about.

Notably, in March this year, Vikki Digital Bank and Galaxy Holding invested in a modern Lab system with a budget of 100 billion VND for the first year; including focusing on equipment investment, training program development, and operating costs. The two sides announced a cooperative relationship to develop high-quality human resources in key technology industries for Da Nang and Vietnam in the coming time.

Both Vikki digital bank and Galaxy Holdings (full name is Galaxy Digital Holdings Company Limited) are members of the Sovico Group ecosystem. Vikki, formerly DongA Bank, after the mandatory transfer, became a 100% subsidiary of HDBank - the bank with billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao as Permanent Vice President.

Galaxy Holdings was established in August 2021 with a charter capital of VND 500 billion, contributed by Sovico Group, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and General Director. Currently, the company is led by Mr. Tran Thanh Hai as General Director and legal representative.

According to the introduction, the enterprise is a digital technology corporation, aiming to promote traditional business activities into digital business, inspiring everyone to contribute and build a prosperous Vietnam in the digital world.

Although it is a new “link” of billionaire Phuong Thao, Galaxy Holdings has been developing into a comprehensive digital technology group with many member companies with diverse products and services. Currently, Galaxy Holdings has 10 members from technology finance to bringing AI into the fields of healthcare, aviation, and business units in the system.

The introduced digital ecosystem currently has 1,200 employees, including more than 450 engineers and 6 large partner enterprises with revenue of 1 billion USD or more.

According to the development roadmap, in the 2024-2026 period, Galaxy Holdings will expand its service provision to partners outside the Sovico ecosystem. The company also aims to cooperate with high-value digital businesses.

Galaxy Pay is a company operating in the field of financial technology - Fintech. Galaxy Joy aims to become the number 1 lifestyle airline points accumulation platform in Vietnam as well as in the world. Galaxy Finx is a fintech developer building the future of the currency and banking market. Galaxy Connect is a unit that supports member companies in business by combining AI with the OTO model (Online - Tele - Offline) to optimize the customer journey...

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/ty-phu-nguyen-thi-phuong-thao-va-mat-xich-moi-it-ai-biet-den-20250824135520192.htm