Southeast Asia’s richest man pours $436M into EV maker VinFast

Southeast Asia’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong has invested VND11 trillion (US$436 million) in electric car maker VinFast Auto by buying shares of its subsidiary.

Vuong made the contribution on Thursday through the purchase of dividend preference shares of VinFast Vietnam, a subsidiary of VinFast, according to filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

These shares give the holder priority for dividends over ordinary shareholders, but carry no conversion or exchange rights.

VinFast said earlier that as of June 30, Vuong had contributed a total of VND40.5 trillion to the company and its subsidiaries. Together with the latest deal, Vuong has invested around VND51.5 trillion into VinFast, according to the filing.

He said earlier that he would invest in VinFast until he "runs out of money."

Vietcap Securities said in an update following a meeting with VinFast investors this month that VinFast Vietnam has used the additional funding from Vuong to acquire Ngoc Hoi Real Estate Investment, the developer of Hanoi International Sports Urban Area Project.

The project is also referred to as Vinhomes Olympic Ngoc Hoi, a large-scale integrated urban development project in southern Hanoi with training facilities for athletes, residential and commercial properties. It spans almost 9,200 hectares and has an estimated investment of VND925 trillion.

Vuong, founder of VinFast, is the richest person in Southeast Asia with a fortune of $37.7 billion, according to real-time data by Forbes.

VinFast Vietnam, with a charter capital of VND35 trillion, was established in June in a major restructure of VinFast to separate its debts and manufacturing into another company, VinFast Trading and Production.

VinFast Vietnam, meanwhile, focuses mainly on research and development and selling cars, along with after-sales services.