Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong lost US$1.9 billion in net worth in Thursday’s stock trading session, the biggest drop for the day in Forbes’s real-time wealth ranking.
Vuong fell from 72nd spot a day earlier to 80th on the list by late Thursday afternoon.
Shares of his conglomerate Vingroup (VIC) and two of its subsidiaries, property developer Vinhomes (VHM) and mall operator Vincom Retail (VRE), fell to the floor during the session.
Shares of another subsidiary, hospitality brand Vinpearl (VPL), lost 3%.
Vingroup said earlier that day it had withdrawn its bid to build the North-South high-speed rail to focus its resources on other already-approved projects, including the Olympic-standard sports complex featuring a 135,000-seat stadium in Hanoi, 54-kilometer Ben Thanh–Can Gio metro line in HCMC and 120-km high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ha Long Bay.
It is also building a steel plant, two wind power plants in the north-central province of Ha Tinh, an LNG plant in Hai Phong city in the north, and an urban area in HCMC’s coastal Can Gio Ward.
Forbes calculates an individual’s net worth based on the value of their stock holdings and other assets such as real estate, artworks and yachts.
 |
Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong. Photo courtesy of Vingroup |
Vuong, who serves as Vingroup’s chairman, owns a 10.05% stake in the company but, together with his family, controls 65%.
He also owns nearly half of its electric vehicle maker VinFast via two private firms.
But his net worth is still up $23 billion for the year and 18 times since 2013, when the U.S. magazine first recognized him as a billionaire and ranked him 974th with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
