Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao began her business career as a sideline importing fax machines and latex rubber into the then Soviet Union while studying economic management at D Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology in Moscow. Before she had turned 21 – or graduated – she had made her first million.
Phuong Thao, who is popularly known as Madam Thao, is now Vietnam’s first and only female billionaire with an estimated $2.7bn (£2bn) fortune made from VietJet, the airline she founded and runs, alongside a vast property empire that stretches from skyscrapers in Ho Chi Minh City to five star beach resorts across the country as well as offshore oil and gas exploration and fossil fuel financing.
But her name may soon be well known in the UK as well as Vietnam after University of Oxford’s Linacre College agreed to rename itself Thao College after a £155m “transformative donation” from her holding company Sovico Group.
“Education and research are the keys to the development and prosperity of mankind,” she said on announcing the deal. “I believe the long-term cooperation with Oxford University will bring new opportunities and good value to the community.” » | Rupert Neate | Thursday, November 4, 2021
