Vietnam has five representatives in Forbes’ latest list of the world’s richest people with three ‘old faces’ and two newcomers, while one entrepreneur failed to retain his presence from the 2018 ranking.

The 2019 Forbes World’s Billionaires list, released on Tuesday, is the business magazine’s 33rd annual ranking of the planet’s wealthiest individuals.

There are 2,153 billionaires on the 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018. The total combined net worth of this year’s billionaires is $8.7 trillion, down from $9.1 trillion in 2018.

Five Vietnamese people made it to the list this year, one billionaire more than last year’s edition.

The Vietnamese representatives in the 2019 Forbes World's Billionaires list are seen in this screenshot

Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of multifaceted conglomerate Vingroup, ascended 260 spots on the list, from #499 in 2018 to #239, while Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of budget airline Vietjet, dropped 242 places, from #766 to #1008.

Tran Ba Duong, chairman of automaker THACO, who stood at #1,339 in last year’s ranking, moved down to #1,349 this year.

Tran Dinh Long, chairman of steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, failed to make the list this year, while two Vietnamese entrepreneurs Ho Hung Anh and Nguyen Dang Quang joined the ‘billionaire club’ for the first time.

Anh, chairman of Techcombank, a major commercial bank that went public in June 2018, was at #1,349, while Quang, chairman of Masan Group, came #1,717.

According to Forbes, Vuong’s net worth was $6.6 billion, up $2.3 billion from the figure recorded in last year’s ranking. The Vingroup chairman made it to the Forbes list for the first time in 2013 with a net worth of $1.5 billion, ranked the world’s 974th richest person.

The Top 10 of the 2019 Forbes World's Billionaires list

The 2019 Forbes World’s Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from February 8, 2019.

This year’s list represents the first decrease in the world’s number of billionaires and their combined wealth since 2016 and only the second slump in the past decade, according to Forbes.

“A record 994 individuals are worth less than a year ago; last year only 360 members got poorer,” the magazine said in a press release.

“The average net worth of this year’s billionaires is $4 billion, down from $4.1 billion in 2018. Of the total, 1,450 members are self-made.”

The Top 20 billionaires have a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, unchanged from last year but still the highest count ever. Their aggregate wealth represents roughly 14 percent of all billionaires. The minimum net worth to make the Top 20 was $38.8 billion, $200 million less than 2018.

For the second year running, centi-billionaire Jeff Bezos remained in the top spot, increasing his net worth to $131 billion, up $19 billion from 2018.

Bill Gates, who held the top spot for the longest period of time, remained in No. 2 with a fortune of $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year.

Warren Buffett’s net worth fell $1.5 billion to $82.5 billion but it secured him the No. 3 spot.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg notably dropped three notches to No. 8, as his fortune lost $8.7 billion, while 21-year-old Kylie Jenner, who owns 100 percent of Kylie Cosmetics, the three-year-old beauty business that did an estimated $360 million in sales last year, became the youngest billionaire in the world and the youngest self-made billionaire of all time.

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