The billion-dollar divorce property divisions of Vietnamese tycoons

In 2010, the People's Court of Hoan Kiem District (Hanoi) completed the procedures for Nguyen Thanh Thuy to divorce Bui Duc Minh. Ms. Thuy is the daughter of the chairman and vice chairman of Bao Son Group, the owner of Thien Duong Bao Son (An Khanh, Hoai Duc, Hanoi). She filed for divorce and was granted custody of their two children.

However, in the above decision, the court did not divide assets, real estate and common debts.

Mr. Minh therefore appealed, claiming that the couple jointly owned assets in Bao Son Group and 7 other subsidiaries. They were established during the marriage but were mostly under the wife's name. He estimated the total value of Bao Son's assets at that time to be about 500 million USD, or 10,000 billion VND.

The biggest dispute is the land use rights of the high-end eco-tourism area An Khanh - Hoai Duc, under the name of Nguyen Thanh Thuy - General Director of Thien Duong Bao Son Entertainment Company Limited.

The case was not yet settled when Nguyen Duc Minh was suddenly arrested in 2012 to serve the investigation of slandering the Department of Education and Training for preventing him from picking up his child at school.

Tycoon Duc An demands 288 billion from model Ngoc Thuy

Tycoon Duc An divorced model Ngoc Thuy after 18 months of marriage. They broke up in 2008, but the two have been in turmoil for the past 10 years while both have remarried.

In August 2018, businessman Duc An was arrested by a US court, with the content of forcing him to appear in court to settle a lawsuit with his ex-wife. According to Mr. An, Thuy sued him for 10 years of not providing for his two daughters, the amount of 35 million USD, and this crime is very serious in the US. The businessman said that they had signed an agreement: the income arising from Mr. An's assets that Ms. Thuy rented out in her name would be used to raise the children. He estimated it at about 30,000 USD per month.

Previously, in 2011, Mr. An sued Ngoc Thuy for appropriating 288 billion VND of his assets. During their marriage, because of his American citizenship, he "asked his wife to be the owner" of stocks, cars, real estate... purchased in Vietnam. The tycoon claimed that he had the money for the purchase before marrying model Thuy. He also expressed his wish to use this disputed money for their children.

The two sides are also involved in a lawsuit against Phan Nhu Thao (Duc An's new wife) accusing Ngoc Thuy of kidnapping their child in 2018.

Miss Diem Huong left empty-handed after divorce from real estate tycoon

Diem Huong, Miss World Vietnam 2010, accepted to leave empty-handed after her secret marriage with businessman Dinh Truong Chinh.

Married in 2011, Diem Huong declared herself single to compete in Miss Universe 2012. In 2014, when the two sides had conflicts and filed for divorce, this marriage was revealed.

Diem Huong's side asserted that Mr. Chinh lied about their marriage registration and assaulted and mentally terrorized her. The beauty accused this man of confining her to a luxury apartment in Ho Chi Minh City. Mr. Chinh countered that he used to have a high position and "a lot of money" so he was loved, but when the real estate business was difficult, their relationship broke down.

This 2014 scandal greatly affected Diem Huong's later career.

Five Star Divorce - 2,000 billion dispute, proposed to divide 60 billion for wife

Mr. Tran Van Muoi (Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the Five Star International Group) and Ms. Pham Thi Huong Giang (Deputy Director of the Atlantic Appraisal Joint Stock Company) blamed each other for having an illicit relationship when they had a conflict in 2004.

In 2012, after a long period of intense dispute, the two parties went to the District 3 Court, Ho Chi Minh City, to divorce and settle the assets worth 2,000 billion VND. These assets included many villas, houses, land in Saigon, Vung Tau, Hai Phong, along with Camry cars and a series of shares worth tens of billions of VND invested in companies. Ms. Giang wanted to split it in half.

But according to Mr. Muoi, most of the assets were borrowed to buy and sell for profit, so the actual debt is 109 billion VND and 6,804 taels of gold. He suggested that the debt be paid first, and the rest will be divided.

Mr. Muoi proposed to give his ex-wife 60 billion VND and all other assets for him to decide and settle the debt. Mrs. Giang objected.

The 2,000 billion dong divorce case then has no clear ending.

"King of bread" Kao Sieu Luc loses the brand Duc Phat Bakery named after his wife

In 1987, Chinese baker Kao Sieu Luc named his shop after his wife, Duc Phat, meaning "prosperity through virtue". Duc Phat flourished in the 1990s, earning Mr. Luc the title of "king of bread" in Saigon.

However, Duc Phat Bakery is also cited as a typical example of the potential risks of the family business model. The husband and wife built the business together, but at the time of their divorce in 2007, Mrs. Duc Phat was the one who controlled the company's finances and 20 stores, while Mr. Luc only controlled the production workshop.

After the plan to divide Duc Phat 1 and Duc Phat 2's assets failed, the two sides agreed that Ms. Phat would keep the brand, and Mr. Luc would receive 1 million USD to give up. With this money, he started his business again.

From here, Kao Sieu Luc started to build a new brand – ABC Bakery – after the collapse. 20 years later, this bakery has 34 stores in Vietnam and Cambodia, with partners including Starbucks, McDonald's, KFC, Lotteria...

This is called a "noble" divorce in the business world. Mr. Luc's children all follow their father.

Thanh Tung