Analysts note that most began with one business field and then expanded into other fields. They have become multi-field economic groups in many business fields.                                 

A report from the Vietnam Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) showed that in Vietnam, 100 percent family-run companies make up 25 percent of GDP.

The private sector accounts for 96.5 percent of the total number of enterprises of the country, while family-run companies account for 70 percent of private enterprises. 

Masan Group, associated with the names of Nguyen Dang Quang and his wife Nguyen Hoang Yen, holds the No1 position in the field of consumer goods and retail.

It led in capitalization value with $5 billion as of April 2023. The capitalization value of Masan Consumer is estimated at $2 billion, Masan Hightech Materials $500 million, and Masan MeatLife $500 million.

In the retail industry, as of the end of 2022, Masan held 3,268 Winmart+ convenience stores and 130 WinMart supermarkets, continuing to be the largest retail chain, if considering the number of points of sale. 

The retailer plans to open 800-1,200 Winmart+ stores in 2023.

Masan Group is known as a private group operating in the fields of finance and mining, with capital contribution to a large bank and Masan Hightech Materials, one of the world’s largest tungsten mines.

Masan has four directly owned subsidiaries and dozens of indirectly owned subsidiaries and affiliates. 

Its subsidiaries operate in different fields, from retail (WinCommerce), consumer goods manufacturing (Masan Consumer), and husbandry and meat processing (Masan MeatLife) to telecommunications (Wintel), bubble tea (Phuc Long) and mining (Masan Hightech Materials).

In 2022, its revenue reached VND76.189 trillion, and net profit VND3.567 trillion. In 2023, it plans to obtain revenue of VND100 trillion.

Masan often raises funds and takes over leading companies to expand its ecosystem of retail and consumer goods. 

The enterprises Masan takes over are mostly large companies which bring stable, high cash flow.

The businessman who has a close relation with Quang is another billionaire who akso returned from Eastern Europe – Ho Hung Anh.

Anh became well known in 2018 with a series of deals in which Anh’s relatives registered to buy many Techcombank shares worth billions of dollars.

At that time, Anh owned 13.1 million Techcombank shares. After the deals, Anh and his relatives held 159.3 million TCB shares, or 14 percent of charter capital.

As of the end of 2022, Anh held 39.3 million 39.3 million TCB shares (1.12 percent), while his mother had 174 million shares (4.95 percent). 

Anh’s wife now holds more than 174 million shares (4.95 percent) and his son (Ho Anh Minh) 138 million shares (3.92 percent). Meanwhile, his daughter Ho Thuy Anh is the owner of 22.5 million TCB shares (0.64 percent).

Anh and his family members also hold MSN shares of the Masan Group.

After 10 years under the chairmanship of Anh, Techcombank has become the first private bank in Vietnam exceeding the VND10 trillion pre-tax profit threshold. 

Meanwhile, other groups have succeeded in the manufacturing sector such as Minh Phu Seafood (MPC) owned by ‘Shrimp King’ Le Van Quang and Chu Thi Binh and ‘Sugar King’ Dang Van Thanh.

Quang and Binh focus on seafood and cooperate with foreign partners in an aim to boost exports, striving for 25 percent of the world’s shrimp market by 2024.

In 2022, Minh Phu Seafood saw a record high consolidated revenue of VND16 trillion, becoming the leading company in shrimp export turnover to Japan (23.8 percent).

Meanwhile, Vietjet Air (VJC), owned by billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, continues to be No1 in the aviation industry of Vietnam with 45 percent of market share.

VJC was one of very few airlines in the world that overcame difficulties during the pandemic without laying off workers, and still making profits.

Thanh Thanh Cong, the family-run enterprise of Dang Van Thanh family, focuses on the sugar industry (46 percent of domestic market share), but also invests in the real estate and tourism sectors (after it left Sacombank).

TTC Sugar is the pillar company of TTC Group. It now has more than 60 product lines and a distribution network with 50,000 retail points of sale. TTC Sugar is a major sugar provider to multinationals in the food and beverage and pharma industries with products exported to 24 countries.

The enterprise leads in both the scale of input material growing area (70,000 hectares) and productivity (29,500 tons of sugar cane a day).

Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong once dreamed of turning streets in Hanoi and HCM City into bustling business hubs like in Hong Kong and Singapore. Vinhomes, with capitalization value of $9,3 billion by April 2023, has developed outstanding property projects throughout the country, from skyscrapers to modern tourism real estate resorts of an international stature. 

Established as a real estate developer, Vuong has been expanding business to new fields, including retail, tourism, healthcare, education and technology.

Manh Ha