From noodles to a $32-B fortune

The first time I visited Vietnam was more than two decades ago, when I lectured at a real estate forum.

I still remember arriving in a country where bicycles and motorbikes dominated the roads and relatively few cars were visible.

Vietnam was confronting challenges in housing, infrastructure, and economic development, yet every time I flew into Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, I felt a palpable energy, resilience and determination to move forward.

Over the years, I began to see the fundamentals for growth before they became obvious: a young and hardworking population, rising consumer aspirations, foreign investment, expanding manufacturing, improving infrastructure, and an economy increasingly connected to the world. The Doi Moi reforms launched in 1986 had fundamentally changed Vietnam’s economic direction, and the momentum was visible.

After leaving the corporate world, Vietnam continued to be a regular part of my regional engagements, allowing me to observe that transformation from a different perspective.

It was during those years that I became fascinated with Pham Nhat Vuong.

Many years ago, I wrote a two-part article entitled “Vietnam and Its First Billionaire,” when Vuong became the country’s first dollar billionaire. What caught my attention was not his wealth, but his journey. He had started with instant noodles in Ukraine, built Mivina into a successful food business, sold Technocom to Nestlé and then returned to Vietnam to make an aggressive bet on real estate and hospitality.

At the time, Vincom was emerging as one of Vietnam’s most prominent developers of commercial centers and landmark properties, and would become one of the foundations of Vingroup. It was increasingly visible on the skyline.

I remember thinking Vuong was not simply developing properties; he was building scale. His transition from noodles to real estate demonstrated a quality I have always associated with exceptional entrepreneurs: the ability to take the success of one chapter and use it to finance a completely different chapter.

My Vietnam engagements also gave me a window into the country’s transformation. I saw Filipino engineers contributing to major Vietnamese projects, including the iconic Bitexco Tower.

I was repeatedly offered full engagements that could eventually have made me an expatriate in Vietnam, but I politely declined.

I chose to remain based in the Philippines while continuing to return for governance and strategy work.

Today, more than two decades after that first speaking engagement, the contrast is extraordinary.

I recently visited the HCMC Metro, infrastructure that years ago existed largely in discussions, proposals and planning documents.

This time, I could actually ride it—a small but powerful reminder of how dramatically the city has evolved.

I also stood before Landmark 81, the 461.2-meter skyscraper developed by Vingroup, rising dramatically above Ho Chi Minh City.

For me, it was more than an impressive building. It was a powerful visual representation of how far the entrepreneur I wrote about years ago has scaled—from making instant noodles in Ukraine to creating one of Vietnam’s most recognizable symbols of economic ambition.

At roughly 1.4 times the height of the Eiffel Tower, Landmark 81 is not merely a structure; it is a statement of confidence, scale and possibility.

Vietnam’s transformation is no longer merely anecdotal. Its economy grew 8 percent in 2025, and the World Bank projects continued strong growth in 2026 despite heightened global uncertainty.

The country continues to benefit from exports, investment and resilient domestic demand.

And that brings me back to the entrepreneur I wrote about many years ago.

Vuong was then Vietnam’s first billionaire. Today, Forbes estimates his net worth at approximately $32 billion, making him Vietnam’s richest person and one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest entrepreneurs.

Vingroup—the business empire that grew from those early ventures in property and hospitality—has expanded far beyond the businesses that first caught my attention.

What makes his journey particularly inspiring to founders is not simply the wealth he created. It is his willingness to keep reinventing himself. He did not remain defined by the business that made him successful.

He moved from noodles to real estate, from real estate to a diversified business empire, and eventually into industries requiring entirely different capabilities. He kept asking what could come next.

“Great entrepreneurs do not merely see where the economy is today. They recognize where it is going—and position themselves before everyone else arrives.”

That is why this story matters beyond one entrepreneur.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is moving despite global headwinds, and I see enormous opportunities ahead for family businesses across Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

But growth creates a new responsibility.

As family enterprises become larger and wealthier, founders must eventually think beyond expansion: Who will lead next? How will the family govern ownership? How will the next generation be prepared to steward what has been built?

The most successful founders do not simply create wealth. They create the capacity for the next generation to create more.

In the next two parts, I will explore how Vuong transformed entrepreneurial success into extraordinary scale—and what his journey can teach Asean family businesses about growth, governance, succession and enduring legacy.

The author is executive director of W+B Advisory Group. He advises boards, founders and multigenerational family enterprises across Asia on governance, strategy, succession and long-term stewardship.