(Bloomberg) — After an astronomical rise in its first day of trading, VinFast Auto Ltd. is now coming back to Earth — erasing a chunk of its billionaire founder’s fortune.
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The Vietnamese electric-vehicle maker has fallen sharply over the past three trading days in New York, eliminating more than half of the 255% gain it notched on Tuesday when it listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
Chairman and founder Pham Nhat Vuong, who controls all but a few shares of the company, has seen his net worth tumble roughly 53% to $21 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
VinFast’s market capitalization has also slumped, falling to $37.4 billion from its peak of $85 billion, when it was briefly ahead of General Motors Co. despite being on pace to make fewer sales this year than GM does in a week.
Big share-price swings were to be expected. Vuong controls 99% of VinFast’s stock, mostly through his business conglomerate, Vingroup JSC. That leaves a small fraction for other investors to trade, meaning that even relatively small transactions can have a big impact on the price.
Still, Vuong isn’t hurting. Because Bloomberg’s index hadn’t accounted for his stake in VinFast until the company completed its merger with a blank-check company this week, he remains significantly richer than before the listing.
On paper, he gained almost $40 billion in the first trading day — one of the biggest wealth jumps ever recorded by the index.
–With assistance from Tom Maloney.
(Updates to reflect Friday’s trading)
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