The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which manages money for the charity Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation created by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, is expected to get an estimated VND9.5 billion (US$373,490) in dividends from the Vietnamese company Masan Consumer this month.

Masan Consumer has announced that the deadline for registering to receive the 2024 cash interim dividend is December 20.

The company pledged a dividend rate of 95 percent, meaning that with each share held, Masan Consumer investors can receive VND9,500 ($0.37) in cash.

As a result, the firm will have to spend nearly VND6.9 trillion ($271.8 million) on the interim dividend payment given its 725 million shares. 

Cash may not be transferred to investors until December 30.

Masan Group, the parent company of Masan Consumer, which holds a 67.4-percent stake, will receive some VND4.7 trillion ($184.8 million).

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, the 11th-largest investor in Masan Consumer, currently owns more than one million shares, equaling potentially $373,490 in dividends.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. The fund later became one of the largest charitable foundations in the world, with over 2,000 employees and a total asset value of $75.2 billion as of the end of 2023.

Besides direct investment, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust used to invest indirectly in Vietnam through Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited, a fund managed by investment group Dragon Capital.

Last year, Masan Consumer paid dividends in cash with a rate of up to 268 percent. Nearly VND19 trillion ($748.3 million) was divided among investors, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust receiving VND28 billion ($1.1 million).

Masan Consumer’s high dividend rate was thanks to its high after-tax profit, reaching VND7.2 trillion ($238.5 million) last year, up 30 percent over 2022.

In January-September this year, the company generated VND22.1 trillion ($869.2 million) in revenue and nearly VND5.6 trillion ($220.3 million) in after-tax profits.

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