According to Bloomberg, the CEO of Vietjet Air could become Vietnam's first female billionaire.

Bloomberg news agency reported that Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao - CEO of Vietjet Air airline could become Vietnam's first female USD billionaire thanks to the airline's planned initial public offering (IPO).

According to Bloomberg estimates, the IPO will bring Thao’s net worth to over $1 billion. With such assets, Thao will also become the first self-made female billionaire in Southeast Asia.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao - CEO of VietJet Air

The majority of the businesswoman's assets lie in her shares in Vietjet and the 65-hectare Dragon City real estate project in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ms. Thao plans to conduct Vietjet’s IPO as early as within the next three months. In this issuance, Vietjet may sell 30% of its shares.

According to some sources, Vietjet aims to have a market capitalization value of more than 1 billion USD. Ms. Thao, who founded Vietjet in 1995, owns 95% of the airline's shares.

In addition, this businesswoman also holds 90% of shares at Sovico Holdings - the company that holds 90% of shares of Dragon City in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, Ms. Thao also holds major shares in three leading resorts in Vietnam: Furama Resort Da Nang, Evason Ana Mandara Nha Trang, and An Lam Ninh Van Bay Villas. This businesswoman is also said to hold 20% shares in HDBank.

Ms. Thao started her business around 1998, when she was a second-year university student majoring in finance and economics in Moscow, Russia. At first, she traded in clothing, office equipment, and consumer goods from suppliers in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, and then sold them in Russia. Later, Ms. Thao switched to trading in steel, machinery, fertilizers, and a number of other items.

Upon returning to Vietnam, the businesswoman invested in two banks, Techcombank and VIB. She then applied for a license to open a private airline, Vietjet Air.

Vietjet flight attendants wearing bikinis on inaugural flight from Saigon to Nha Trang in 2012

This airline is often known for its young, beautiful flight attendants. Notably, on some of the first flights to coastal airports, Vietjet flight attendants wore bikinis.

According to Bloomberg, VietJet may surpass national carrier Vietnam Airlines to become the airline with the highest number of domestic passengers in Vietnam - a country that is expected to achieve a growth rate in the aviation industry in the top 10 in the world./.

According to VOV