Forbes: Vietnam has the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia.
According to Forbes, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of VietJet Air, has an estimated net worth of approximately $1.7 billion.
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| According to Forbes, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of VietJet Air, is the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia. |
In December 2011, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao launched Vietnam's first low-cost airline, VietJet Air. Just five years later, VietJet Air had captured 40% of the domestic aviation market share and achieved revenue of $1.2 billion.
According to Forbes, VietJet's success has made Ms. Thao the only female billionaire in Southeast Asia, and one of only two billionaires in Vietnam. Ms. Thao is also one of 56 female billionaires on Forbes' list of the world's billionaires this year.
According to Forbes' list, Ms. Thao, 46, has a net worth of approximately $1.2 billion. Forbes is currently estimating the VietJet CEO's assets at around $1.7 billion.
After studying economics and finance in the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Ms. Thao traded goods in Eastern Europe and Asia. Upon returning to Vietnam, she began investing in banks before moving into real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City and resorts in central Vietnam.
The idea of launching a low-cost airline stemmed from Ms. Thao's own predictions about the increasing demand for air travel in Vietnam.
Speaking to Forbes, Ms. Thao said: "I always aim for and execute large deals. I've never done anything on a small scale. While others are trading one container, I'm trading hundreds of containers."
Ms. Thao studied the models of airlines such as Southwest, Ryan Air, and AirAsia. She received a license to launch VietJet in 2007, but due to high oil prices, the airline's launch was delayed. In 2010, she formed a joint venture with AirAsia.
When the plan failed, Ms. Thao launched her own airline the following year. Ms. Thao and her husband, businessman Nguyen Thanh Hung, own a majority stake in VietJet through their company, Sovico Holdings.
VietJet Airlines experienced rapid growth. From the beginning, VietJet caused a sensation with its image of female flight attendants wearing bikinis. VietJet benefited from Vietnam's booming aviation industry, which grew by 29% between 2012 and 2016, and the 'inefficiency' of its domestic competitor, Vietnam Airlines. In its second year of operation, VietJet became profitable.
VietJet operates 300 flights daily, including 63 domestic routes and dozens of international flights, using 45 jet aircraft. More than 35 million passengers have flown with VietJet. Recently, the company ordered more than 200 aircraft worth nearly $23 billion from Airbus and Boeing. Since officially listing on the stock exchange on February 28th, the company's shares have risen 47%.
Now, Ms. Thao has an even bigger plan, and the competition will become more intense. "VietJet aims to become an international airline, not just a domestic one," she said.
The CEO of VietJet doesn't believe her business success is innate. "Some people say that whatever I do will be profitable. But I don't think it's that simple," Thao told CNBC. "There's no easy path to success. I learned and researched. To achieve success, you have to go through a lot of hard work, and you need to have a passion for business in what you invest in."
According to Sputnik
