Vuong who is not only Vietnam’s richest person, but was also the nation’s first billionaire was born and raised in very humble surroundings. He studied Mining and Geology at Hanoi University, before moving Moscow to attend their Geological Prospecting Institute. After graduating, he did three things. First of all he married his high school sweetheart, then they moved to Kharkiv in Ukraine and finally he borrowed enough money to set up a Vietnamese restaurant, waiting on the tables himself, as well as starting a business selling instant noodles.

That business – Technocom, soon became the market leader and in 2009 he sold it to Nestle for $150 million. With that Vuong moved back to Vietnam and moved into real estate and forming Vincom. His first development was the Vinpearl Resort in Nha Trang, followed by Hanoi’s Vincom City Towers a year later in 2004. In 2007 the company went public, before merging with his luxury resort business to form VinGroup.

AAAs chairman of VinGroup, he has made it into one of the largest companies in the country, and as well as real estate has interests in healthcare and retail. He has also invested in several not for profit projects, especially around sports, healthcare and education.