‘Bikini Airline’ set to create Vietnam’s first female billionaire
Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, VietJet Aviation CEO. (Photo: VietJet Aviation JS)
Vietnam is set to see its first female billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, CEO of VietJet Aviation, if a planned IPO is successful.
The 45-year-old reportedly owns 95% of the low-cost airline and plans an initial public offering later this year that will offer 30% of the stock at an evaluation of more than $A1.33 billion ($US1 billion).
According to an airline press statement, once the IPO runs its course, “Madame Thao is set to have a net worth exceeding $US1 billion making her Vietnam’s first female billionaire.”
The majority of her wealth comes from her stake in VietJet and her holdings in Ho Chi Minh’s Dragon City real estate development.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Ms Thao said she had not calculated how much she owns.
“I’ve never sat down and calculated my assets,” she said, “I’m more focused on how to boost the company’s growth, how to increase the average salary for my employees, and how to lead the airline to gain more market share and make it number one.”
VietJet’s revenue tripled to 10.9 trillion dong ($A646 million) last year, while net income rose to almost 1 trillion dong. The airline now accounts for more than a 30% market share in Vietnam.
Ms Thao’s business ventures began in 1988 when she was studying finance and economics in Moscow. She began as a trade distributor for clothing, office equipment and consumer goods, earning her first million by age 21. She then moved on to trade steel, machinery and other commodities before returning to Vietnam to invest in a bank.
Photos: VietJet Air
‘Bikini image’
VietJet is known for its young and attractive flight attendants who wear bikinis on inaugural flights to beach locations and featured similar models on its calendars, which Ms Thao says are empowering images in Vietnam’s conservative culture.
“You have the right to wear anything you like, either the bikini or the traditional ao dai,” she said, referring to the traditional long tunic worn over loose pants. “We don’t mind people associating the airline with the bikini image. If that makes people happy, then we are happy.”
Ms Thao wants to make VietJet the “Emirates of Asia”, modelling after the success of the Dubai-based carrier that’s the world’s biggest long-haul airline with flights to about 150 destinations. The Vietnamese budget carrier, which began operations in 2011, flies to 47 locations in the country and across Asia, and the valuation it’s seeking will make it more valuable than South Korea’s Asiana Airlines or Finnair Oyj.
“You have to take the lead and take calculated risks,” she said. “As a businesswoman, I have a responsibility to contribute to the economy and to push for positive changes of the country and in the society, in light of the international integration that’s happening.”
– with Bloomberg
