VinFast is worth more than Ford or GM.
The Vietnam-based electric vehicle manufacturer has reached a higher market valuation - $37 per share and $85 billion in total - than the two American automobile giant on its debut day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
VinFasts estimation beat out the two landmark brands, as Ford closed the day at $48 billion, while GM stood at $46 billion amid the continuing expansion of the EV market.
The news has made Pham Nhat Vuong, the founder and chairman of the company, roughly $39 billion richer after already being crowned the south-east Asian country’s richest person already.
According to regulatory filings, he controls 99 percent of the company’s shares via Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate, Vingroup JSC.
Bill Russo, founder and CEO of Automobility, told BBC News: "Investors are continuing to believe that the future is in electric and that a low-cost East Asian country will emerge as a competitor in the US.
"The markets believe that given geopolitics that Vietnam, not China, will be that country."
VinFast only sold $185 million worth of shares on its inaugural day after using a shell company or a special purpose acquisition company to go public. Start-ups often opt to use these to increase the time it takes to get to market as it merges a public and private company in order to float it.
Various EV makers like Lordstown Motors and Faraday Future have done similar things in previous years. However, they lost more 90 percent of their stock value since they adopted this tactic.
Bill added that VinFast could be different as "they are primarily backed by Vingroup, which gives them access to funding from a business that has a proven track record of growth".
He said: "Most EV start-ups fail because they do not have profitable core, and external funding eventually runs out as they burn capital far faster than they generate cash."
