The total assets of Vietnam's six richest people were valued at a combined US$12.6 billion at the end of 2023, falling over $5 billion from the preceding year, according to Forbes’ latest update.

Chairman of conglomerate Vingroup Pham Nhat Vuong remained Vietnam’s richest person with an asset value of $4.3 billion, equal to what he owned in 2018.

Vuong currently holds 691.27 million VIC shares in VinGroup, or an 18-percent stake.

In 2023, he transferred 50.8 million VIC shares to Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company.

Closing the session on Friday last week, VIC was priced at VND44,600 ($1.8) per share, a six-percent increase over the previous month but still down 17 percent compared with early 2023.

Automaker VinFast, a subsidiary of Vingroup, also made its IPO on the NASDAQ in 2023.

As of the end of last year, Vuong was the 636th richest person in the world.

The second wealthiest billionaire in Vietnam was Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of local budget air carrier Vietjet, with assets totaling $2.2 billion last year.

She finished 2023 as the 1,368th-richest tycoon in the world.

On Friday last week, VJC shares of Vietjet stood at VND108,000 ($4.4) each, falling nearly two percent in 2023.

Meanwhile, HPG shares of Vietnamese steelmaker Hoa Phat Group skyrocketed 55 percent last year to VND28,000 ($1.2) at the end of the last trading session of the year.

The group’s chairman Tran Dinh Long ranked third among Vietnamese U.S. dollar billionaires and 1,647th in the world with $1.8 billion.

The fourth and fifth wealthiest people in Vietnam were Ho Hung Anh, chairman of lender Techcombank, and Tran Ba Duong, chairman of auto firm THACO, with their net worth estimated at some $1.5 billion each.

They were followed by consumer goods producer Masan Group chairman Nguyen Dang Quang, whose assets were valued at $1.3 billion.

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