45-year old Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, a Vietnamese entrepreneur, is set to become the first Vietnamese female billionaire, thanks to her brilliant idea of staffing VietJet Air with women clad in sexy two-piece red-and-yellow swimsuits, depicting colors of the Vietnamese flag.
Thao made her first million at 21, trading fax machines and latex rubber. With the initial public offering of Vietnam’s only privately-owned airline, Thao is set to have a net worth of $1.37 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The majority of her wealth came from her stake in VietJet Air and her holdings in Dragon City, a 65-hectare real estate in Ho Chi Minh City.
VietJet Air is set to hold it's initial public offering within three months, where it may sell as much as a 30 percent stake. Thao, who founded the airline, owns 95 percent of the company.
In just a few years, VietJet Air, whose current motto is "Enjoy Flying!" has reached 30 percent of the airline market share in Vietnam. Thao was also able to boost profits by publishing calendars showing their sexy stewardess babes.
Thao dismisses any criticism of their "bikini airline" as old fashioned. “You have the right to wear anything you like, either the bikini or the traditional ao dai,” she has said, referring to the traditional Vietnamese loose tunics worn over pants. "We don't mind people associating the airline with the bikina image. If that makes people happy, then we are happy."
Photo Credit: Next Shark
Source: Maxim Bloomberg
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