The VN Index stood at 664.87 points on the last trading session of 2016, an increase of 14.8 percent compared with the beginning of the year. Stocks brought profit 50 percent higher than gold in 2016.

Trinh Van Quyet, president of FLC Group, a real estate developer,,has officially become the newest stock billionaire with the asset of VND33.8 trillion. 

Pham Nhat Vuong, also the owner of a real estate developer, ranks second with VND30.4 trillion in stock assets. Meanwhile, the owner of a steel group ranks third with VND9.1 trillion in assets.

The majority of the 20 richest stock billionaires, who have stock assets of VND1.5 trillion and higher, are from the real estate sector.

Very few bankers can find their names on the list of the richest billionaires. There are only two well-known names – Tran Mong Hung and Tram Be.

Tran Mong Hung, member of ACB’s board of directors, and his wife Dang Thu Thuy, also a member of the board of directors, had VND200 billion each worth of ACB shares by the end of 2016. 

Their sons and daughter – Tran Hung Huy, chair of ACB, and Trang Dang Thu Thao and Trang Minh Hoang also have their names listed among top 100. Huy has VND557 billion worth of stock assets, ranking the 45th, while the remaining two have VND200 billion for each.

Hung’s family is one of very few families which have three members on the post of member of the board of directors of one bank. It is the only family where all members hold the stakes of the same bank.

Hung once receded into the background, but he returned in late 2012 together with his eldest son Tran Hung Huy, when former managers of the banks were arrested because of wrongdoings. After three years, they have improved the bank’s operation significantly.

In the case of Tram Be, his eldest son Tram Trong Ngan ranks 27th on the list of richest stock billionaires with assets worth VND843 billion. Meanwhile, Be and the other children – Tram Thuyet Kieu and Tram Khai Hoa --,are also listed among the top 100.

Be and his son Tram Khai Hoa have VND300 billion in stock assets each, ranking 70th and 72nd, while the daughter Tram Thuyet Kieu ranks 81st with VND250 billion.

Analysts said that under the current laws, one individual must not possess more than 5 percent of the chartered capital of one bank. Therefore, the stock assets of bankers are incomparable with the businessmen in other business fields.
The bankers who possess 4.5-nearly 5 percent of stakes of one bank include Tram Trong Ngan (Sacombank), Dang Khac Vi (VIB), Thai Huong (Bac A Bank), Dang Ngoc Lan (ACB).

Mai Thanh