Pham Nhat Vuong enters Forbes 500 list of richest billionaires

Pham, the richest man in Viet Nam has seen his wealth surging US$2.2 billion in the last two months, securing him the 495th spot in Forbes' global billionaire list updated on March 11.

He owns 691 million Vingroup shares, benefiting from their 17 percent gain since January, bolstered by the company's strong performance.

Earlier, the Vietnamese billionaire first joined the Forbes' list in 2013 with a US$1.5 billion net worth, ranking 974th.

So far, Viet Nam now has five billionaires including Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of Vietjet Air; Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of Hoa Phat Group, Ho Hung Anh, Chairman of private lender Techcombank, Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of food producer and retailer Masan Group, and Tran Ba Duong, Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation./.