At the annual general meeting in 2024 of Hoa Sen Group (Hoa Sen Group, HOSE: HSG), Chairman Le Phuoc Vu shared his thoughts on delaying the time of withdrawing from business activities of Hoa Sen (planned for 2026) and plans for succession.
Chairman Le Phuoc Vu shared: “As announced at the previous AGM, I stated that in 2026-2027, I would retire. Now it is 2024, and I am still thinking about another 5-10 years. I am the largest shareholder, the founder, and the soul of the corporation. But there are still many projects, so I cannot retire early. After discussing with my colleagues, I decided to delay.”
Mr. Vu shared that before retiring, he decided to choose a billionaire to hand over the corporation, and met this billionaire 3-4 times, but everyone said that I could not hand over, I cannot sell this corporation just to gain profit.
Mr. Vu admitted that even during the day, he couldn’t find someone who has virtue, responsibility, capability, and social responsibility. “If I sell it to someone else, Hoa Sen will collapse immediately. Honesty and responsibility will be lost,” said Mr. Vu.
Also at the meeting, Mr. Tran Ngoc Chu added that the Board of Directors is considering other options, one of which is the proposal that Mr. Vu hands over shares to the next generation of children.
“After we discussed, we mentioned handing over shares to one of my children. My daughter will continue my career, she was born in 2001, studying dual degrees in Australia,” Chairman Le Phuoc Vu shared.
Mr. Vu also added, “Honestly, last year, I didn’t want to hand it over to my daughter because being Chairman of the Corporation is a committed effort. She is a daughter, I don’t want her to carry that burden. There will be a lot of money, but if greed cannot be controlled, it will only bring disaster. If my daughter does not have those qualities, I will not hand it over.”
Chairman Le Phuoc Vu
Mr. Vu also revealed, in terms of capability, my daughter has been studying very well, studying dual degrees at two universities. However, the Chairman of HSG said: “I have to observe carefully to see if she has enough qualities to replace me or not. It also needs another 10 years. When she heard this information, my daughter felt sad, cried because she was afraid of the burden. I have to encourage her.”
According to the 2023 management report, Mr. Le Phuoc Vu has 3 children: Le Hoang Vu Tri, Le Hoang Dieu Tam, Le Hoang Dieu Thien. None of Mr. Vu’s 3 children own any HSG shares.
The generational transition of Hoa Sen Group is a matter of great concern to shareholders. Mr. Le Phuoc Vu is known as a billionaire who goes up to the mountain in seclusion when officially announcing his Triple Gem ordination from mid-July 2020, living on the mountain. In the 2021-2022 period, Mr. Vu announced that he would withdraw from the company in 2026, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the enterprise. According to the plan, after stepping down from Hoa Sen, Mr. Vu will enter monastic life and live the pure life of a practitioner.
