Vietnamese corporate executives saw a wide disparity in incomes in 2023, particularly between industries like real estate and banking.

Leading the list of top earners was Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, CEO of Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation (KBC), whose total annual income reached nearly 17 billion VND. This made her the highest-paid executive among publicly listed companies, far surpassing peers in other industries.

According to KBC's reviewed financial statements for the second quarter of 2024, Huong earned over 6.4 billion VND in the first six months of the year, equivalent to more than 1 billion VND per month. In 2023, her total income was an impressive 17 billion VND, making her the top-paid CEO in Vietnam’s corporate sector.

Following Huong in the rankings was Danny Le, CEO of Masan Group, with a total annual income of 14.7 billion VND, or nearly 1.23 billion VND per month.

Nguyen Thu Hang, CEO of Vinhomes, also earned a significant sum, with her 2023 income reaching 13.9 billion VND.

Executives in the real estate sector consistently earned more than their counterparts in banking and other sectors. For instance, Tran Xuan Ngoc, CEO of Nam Long Group, earned nearly 12.9 billion VND in 2023, while Nguyen Viet Quang, CEO of Vingroup, brought in 11.1 billion VND.

In contrast, many CEOs in other industries earned significantly less. Notably, Nguyen Thi Nhu Loan, former CEO of Quoc Cuong Gia Lai JSC, earned only 132 million VND in 2023, or about 11 million VND per month. Despite the low earnings, Loan has personally loaned significant sums to her company over the years, a practice uncommon among executives in other industries.

The highest-paid chairperson of a publicly listed company in 2023 was Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, chairperson of Phu Nhuan Jewelry (PNJ), who earned 8.8 billion VND.

Meanwhile, Dung Cong Minh, chairperson of Sacombank, earned 8.6 billion VND.

Other top-paid chairpersons included Nguyen Duy Hung of SSI Securities, who earned 7 billion VND, and chairpersons of Vinhomes and TPBank, who earned between 6 and 6.4 billion VND in 2023.

According to a report by FiinGroup and FiinRatings, the average income for CEOs of Vietnam’s publicly listed companies was 2.5 billion VND per year in 2023.

This figure was higher in industries such as real estate and financial services, which included companies like KBC, Masan, and Vinhomes.

Real estate CEOs, in particular, earned significantly more than their peers in state-owned enterprises and smaller companies.

The report highlighted that while the income gap between CEOs and other executives was vast, the correlation between high pay and company performance was more evident in larger companies with higher market capitalizations.

Manh Ha