This EV maker you’ve probably never heard of just made $60b in a day
afr.comVinFast Auto soared on its first day in the public markets, boosting the fortune of its billionaire founder.
The electric automaker’s shares surged 255 per cent on Tuesday, adding $US39 billion ($60 billion) to the net worth of chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and pushing the company’s market capitalisation above that of industry giants General Motors and Mercedes-Benz. The fortune of Vietnam’s richest man now stands at $US44.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
VinFast LLC’s VF8 electric vehicles bound for shipment for export. Bloomberg
The index hasn’t previously included Vuong’s stake in the carmaker, which he founded. He directly and indirectly controls 99 per cent of the company’s outstanding shares, mostly through his conglomerate, Vingroup. That large stake limits the shares available for other investors to trade, meaning the stock is prone to large swings.
VinFast scrapped its plans for a normal initial public offering and opted for a SPAC listing after investor appetite for money-losing startups waned over the past year. Instead, it agreed to merge with blank-check company Black Spade Acquisition, founded by casino mogul Lawrence Ho.
To be sure, other recent SPAC deals have experienced eye-popping rallies that ended a few trading sessions after their merger closed, as traders look to make a quick profit on companies with limited shares – meaning the jump in Vuong’s fortune may be short-lived.
The car maker was established by Vuong in 2017, and forecasts sales will reach 45,000 to 50,000 this year. It began building a factory in North Carolina last month. Vuong and his relatives have invested at least $US300 million into the firm.
Vuong moved to Ukraine in the early 1990s after studying geoeconomics
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