Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo Net Worth

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo has an estimated net worth of $4.1 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $2.3 billion in 2019.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo is a Vietnamese businesswoman best known as the president and CEO of VietJet Air. She also serves as president of Sovico Group and vice president of HDBank. Her career started in the 1980s after she studied economics and finance in Soviet Russia. She then traded commodities in Eastern Europe and Asia. Later, she built a wider business portfolio that includes banking, technology, green energy and real estate.

Her biggest public breakthrough came through VietJet Air. She launched the low-cost airline in 2011 after deciding that demand for air travel in Vietnam was likely to rise. The company quickly drew attention in its early years and went public in 2017. That listing helped make her Vietnam's first self-made woman billionaire, according to Forbes. Today, Forbes tracks her wealth across airlines and other investments, with a real-time estimate of $4.1 billion in October 2026.

How Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo built her wealth

A large share of Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo's fortune is tied to airlines. She launched VietJet Air in 2011 after seeing room for a budget carrier in Vietnam. The idea grew out of her earlier work as a trader, when she expected air travel demand to increase. VietJet later became the business most closely linked to her name, and its 2017 public listing turned her into a widely watched billionaire in Vietnam.

Her wealth does not come from one company alone. Alongside VietJet, she has investments in HDBank, technology, green energy and real estate. Her business interests also include Sovico Group. In property, Forbes notes holdings such as hotels and beach resorts. That mix helps explain why Forbes places her in the diversified industry category, even though airlines remain the main source most people associate with her fortune.

Forbes net worth over time

Forbes has shown her fortune moving up and down across several years. On the World's Billionaires list, it put her at $2.3 billion in 2019, then $2.1 billion in 2020. The estimate rose to $2.8 billion in 2021 and $3.1 billion in 2022 before dropping to $2.2 billion in 2023. Those shifts happened while her wealth remained linked to VietJet and her other investments in banking, property, technology and energy.

The Forbes estimate later moved higher again. It returned to $2.8 billion in 2024 and stayed there in 2025. On the 2026 World's Billionaires list, Forbes placed her at $4.2 billion. Its real-time tracker showed $4.1 billion on October 20, 2026. That pattern points to a fortune shaped by more than one asset, with airlines at the center and added support from HDBank and her broader investment portfolio.