Two Vietnamese entrepreneurs exit Forbes’ billionaire list

Two Vietnamese billionaires namely Tran Dinh Long, chairman of steel giant Hoa Phat, and Bui Thanh Nhon, chairman of real estate developer Nova Group, exited Forbes’ latest billionaire list announced Friday.

The real-time net worth of Long plunged to $954.7 million, down by over $2 billion compared to the beginning of the year, as his group’s HPG shares were continuously sold off on the local stock market over a third-quarter loss of VND1.8 trillion ($72.5 million). HPG dropped to VND12,350 ($0.5) per share on Thursday.

This is not the first time Long has fallen out of the world billionaire class. He was present on the list in March 2018, but removed from it nine months later.

Meanwhile, Bui Thanh Nhon saw his asset value plunge to $978.2 million since the stock of his group, NVL, hit its floor price for five consecutive sessions to VND44,950 ($1.8) per share by Thursday.

Vietnam now has five billionaires on Forbes's The Real-Time Billionaires List. They are Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, with total assets value of $3.9 billion; CEO of budget carrier Vietjet Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, $2 billion; chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation Tran Ba Duong, $1.4 billion; Ho Hung Anh, chairman of Techcombank, $1.4 billion; Nguyen Dang Quang, chairman of multi-sector conglomerate Masan Group, $1.2 billion.

Forbes’s 36th-annual ranking features the planet’s 2,668 richest people, 87 fewer than a year ago. They’re worth a collective $12.7 trillion, $400 billion less than in 2021.