Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao became Vietnam’s first self-made female billionaire in 2017, and like several other Vietnamese billionaires studied in Russia, gaining a bachelor degree in financial credit management and labor economics from Plekhanov University of Economics in Moscow and a doctoral degree in economic management at the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. After finishing her studies, she began trading commodities across Asia and Eastern Europe.

While trading, Nguyen correctly predicted that air travel within Vietnam would shortly increase, and so in 2011 launched the budget airline VietJet. It quickly made a name for itself and not just for its provocative adverts that featured air stewardesses in bikinis.

The airline, which accounts for over 40% of the country’s air traffic and operates more than 300 flights a day went public in 2017. She has a separate holding company Sovicio, which holds a 90% stake in Dragon City, a major development in her home city of Ho Chi Minh, and is undergoing an oil exploration venture with CPC Corp, a Taiwanese oil refiner.