Vietnam’s richest man plans US$6 billion project in the US
VinFast billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, Vingroup Chairman, plans to invest US$6 billion in an electric vehicle factory in the US.
It is negotiating with potential investors to raise billions of dollars to finance the project.
In November 2021, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vice President of Vingroup, talked about this project. A representative of Vingroup said that VinFast planned to list in the US in the next one or two years. Foreign valuation firms estimate the company's value at between US$25 billion and US$60 billion.
According to Forbes, as of March 17, 2022, Pham Nhat Vuong had a fortune of US$6.1 billion.
However, if VinFast has a successful IPO in the US with a valuation of US$60 billion as expected, Vuong will have an additional $26 billion. Thus, Vuong's total assets will be US$32 billion, placing him in the top 40 richest people on the planet according to the Forbes list.
Pham Thu Huong, Vuong's wife, will also have an additional US$600 million, bringing her total assets to about US$1.2 billion, becoming the second female billionaire in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, just behind Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (CEO of VietJet, with US$3.2 billion).
In early August 2021, Vuong contributed 48.5% of capital, equivalent to VND485 billion (together with Vingroup’s 51%) to VINES Energy Solutions Joint Stock Company (VinES), a battery manufacturing business in the context that VinFast aims to become a global smart electric car company.
VinFast plans to enter the US and European markets with a line of electric cars with battery rental models to compete with major domestic manufacturers such as Tesla and General Motors (GM), with an annual sales plan of 160,000 to 180,000 cars in the US, equivalent to 1% of total car sales in this country.
