Vietnam’s first tech unicorn VNG appoints acting CEO

Vietnam’s first tech unicorn VNG Corporation on early Saturday morning announced the appointment of deputy CEO Kelly Wong as acting CEO.

Previously, according to the company's mid-year governance report for 2024, Le Hong Minh was CEO of VNG. However, the Saturday statement did not mention Minh’s current role.

In its new statement, the VNG board of directors confirmed it will work closely with and support Kelly Wong in his new role to ensure the company’s operations continue to run smoothly and efficiently.

Kelly Wong is deputy CEO in charge of online games at VNG and boasts nearly 20 years of experience in various business sectors in Vietnam. He used to be deputy CEO of food major Kido Group, executive chairman of Red Wok Investment (RWI), and CEO of the Ho Chi Minh City Securities Corporation (HSC).

VNG has assured that its business operations are taking place as usual. "The company is actively cooperating with and complying with all requirements from competent authorities. VNG is committed to making every effort to ensure the stability of its business activities as well as the legal rights and interests of its partners, shareholders and stakeholders," the new statement said.

Founded in 2004 as Vinagame Joint Stock Company, VNG has grown significantly, with its charter capital increasing from VND15 billion to over VND287 billion ($11.66 million) by the end of Q2/2024.

Founder Le Hong Minh served as chairman and CEO from 2004. At the beginning of 2023, he transferred the role of chairman to board member Vo Sy Nhan, while retaining his positions as CEO and board member.

Currently, the VNG board of directors consists of five members: Le Hong Minh, Vo Sy Nhan, Vuong Quang Khai, Nguyen Le Thanh, and Kelly Wong.

VNG is a leading internet and technology company in Vietnam. A notable milestone for the company was it being valued at $1 billion in 2014 by the World Start-up Report, becoming the first unicorn in Vietnam. In 2019, VNG was valued at $2.2 billion by Temasek, an investment fund of the Singaporean government.

According to its financial statement, VNG reported a net revenue of VND4,314 billion ($175.26 million) in the first half of this year, up nearly 30% year-on-year. Online gaming accounted for 73.25% of total revenue, reaching nearly VND3,162 billion.

However, VNG reported a loss of nearly VND586 billion ($23.8 million), half of the figure in the same period of 2023 (VND1,205 billion).

In 2024, VNG aims for VND11,069 billion ($449.7 million) in revenue and VND150 billion ($6.09 million) in after-tax profit. After the first half, the firm had fulfilled only 39% of the year's revenue target and stayed far from its profit goal.

The company’s total assets as of June 30, 2024 hit over VND10,126 billion ($411.4 million), up more than 5.5% compared to the beginning of the year.

In the unlisted public companies market UPCoM, VNZ of VNG dropped over 6.8% to VND480,000 ($19.5) per share on Friday.