Vietnam’s Ambani family? How rich is the Hoan Cau Group that brought the Miss Universe pageant to the country – and how many sons married beauty queens?
In 2008, for the first time in its history, Vietnam hosted the prestigious Miss Universe pageant in Nha Trang. The event was brought to Vietnam by the Hoan Cau Group which not only spent millions of dollars pitching and organising the event but also built the whole Diamond Bay Resort & Spa, one of the most luxurious real estate complexes in the city, to serve as the event venue.
The event cast light on one of the richest families in Vietnam whose assets at one point were estimated to be US$1 billion as they owned the majority of stocks in Hoan Cau Group – a multi-business corporation with more than 30 subsidiaries across Vietnam including Nam A Bank, golf clubs, several training centres and other lavish properties. So how did one family become so rich?
The whole family empire was built by the late Tran Thi Huong, who went from rags to riches with her shrewdness and insightful business mind. She started up with various businesses in different sectors, such as timber, incense and seafood processing, and won the first major contract in 1982 becoming a supplier for Seaprodex, one of the biggest state-own-enterprises at the time.
She made her fortune in the early 1990s as Vietnam opened its economy to the globe. Cleverly capturing the trend of foreign investors acquiring existing production facilities in Vietnam instead of building new ones, Tran Thi Huong invested in developing various factories and selling for huge profits. For instance, she sold a factory to San Miguel Beer for US$24 million, profiting US$5 million; another factory to Lipovitan Energy Drink for a net profit of US$12 million.
With accumulated experience and capital, she went on to establish Hoan Vu Group and took on new ventures in real estate, housing and commercial projects such as Diamond Bay, a luxurious resort, apartments and trade centre complex with a total estimated investment of US$4 billion, Nha Trang Commercial Center and Saigonland Apartments.
She also expanded her empire into banking by successfully securing a significant percentage of stock in Nam A Bank, which reportedly had assets of more than US$4 billion in 2020. With her impressive career and substantial impact on Vietnam’s business landscape, she was named one of the 20 most influential women in Vietnam by Forbes.
With their massive wealth, the family leads a lavish lifestyle. Tran Thi Huong’s grandson John Tuan Nguyen married Tran Ngoc Lan Khue, who placed No 11 in Miss World 2015, and the couple often give the public a glimpse of their luxurious life. For their wedding, they took an extravagant trip to Europe to visit the most romantic and exclusive landmarks and held an opulent fairy tale-like wedding reception.
They live together in an elegant European-style mansion, which features gold plating, sophisticated interior decor and expensive facilities. Even during the pregnancy and after the birth of their son, the couple was often spotted at five-star resorts in Vietnam and abroad for their family holiday.
Less visible to the public is Tran Thi Huong’s first son Nguyen Quoc Toan who also married a Vietnamese beauty pageant winner, Duong Truong Thien Ly, the second runner-up of Miss Universe Vietnam 2008. While Nguyen Quoc Toan held key positions at his mother’s businesses, Thien Ly also inherited a wealth of the family, owning more than US$6 million worth of stocks in Nam A Bank. She was sometimes seen at high-end fashion shows, community services and the Miss Universe Vietnam pageant as the national director of the event.
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The Hoan Cau Group family empire was built by the late matriarch, Tran Thi Huong, who went from rags to riches with her shrewdness and insightful business mind, developing resorts, real estate and buying into Nam A Bank