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From the appointment of Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong’s son as chairman of Vinfast: Revisiting the issue of generational succession in family-owned enterprises

On 25 May 2026, VinFast Auto Ltd. announced that its Board of Directors had appointed Mr. Pham Nhat Quan Anh as Chairman of the Board of Directors of VinFast, replacing Ms. Le Thi Thu Thuy. According to the announcement, this appointment is intended to support VinFast’s global expansion needs in its next phase of development.

Mr. Pham Nhat Quan Anh's appointment as Chairman of the Board of Directors of VinFast is not just a high-level personnel change, but also raises a larger question for Vietnamese family businesses: how should generational transition be prepared to avoid creating a governance vacuum?

From a corporate governance perspective, this may not be a complete transition. A more appropriate view is that the next generation is being placed in a strategic position to accumulate capabilities, while the founder remains central to vision, capital, and risk management.

Generative transition shouldn't start too late.

Many family businesses only begin thinking about succession when the founder is older, their health declines, or they are no longer directly managing the business. At that point, the business often lacks the time to properly prepare a successor.

The VinFast story shows that bringing the next generation in early, while the founder still has the capacity to guide and supervise, is a noteworthy approach. This isn't necessarily a transfer of power, but rather a controlled preparatory step.

It's not about "handing over the seat," but about "handing over the battlefield."

Generational transition in family businesses doesn't necessarily begin with immediately handing over the top position. A more cautious approach is to hand over a business segment, project, or market large enough to be tested by the next generation.

For VinFast, this is a highly challenging "battlefield": pressure from capital, technology, production, supply chain, brand, and the expectations of international investors. This environment allows the successor to accumulate real capabilities and build legitimacy through tangible results.

Family ties only create initial opportunities; competence creates legitimacy.

In family businesses, it's not unusual for relatives of the founder to hold senior management positions. However, in large businesses, especially those with external investors, legitimacy cannot be based solely on family relationships.

The successor needs to demonstrate competence through their work process, decision-making ability, operational results, and team recognition. This is crucial to prevent the succession process from being perceived as merely "familializing" the management structure.

The founder's role remains very important during the transition period.

The founder doesn't necessarily have to step down immediately when the next generation begins management. In many cases, especially with rapidly growing businesses or those pursuing high-risk strategies, the founder's presence still ensures trust, speed of decision-making, and long-term commitment.

The important thing is that the founder needs to gradually shift their role from direct management to strategic patronage, while creating space for the next generation to take on real responsibility.

Sustainable succession must go hand in hand with professionalizing management.

The generational transition is not just about choosing who will take over the business. The bigger issue is whether the business can build a robust governance system to ensure sustainable operation across generations.

This requires clear delegation of authority, an effective board of directors, a professional management team, mechanisms for controlling related transactions, information transparency, and a system for evaluating the capabilities of the next generation.

From the VinFast story, the important lesson for Vietnamese family businesses is: generational transition is not a single moment, but a process. That process needs to begin with genuine responsibility delegation, real capability testing, and gradually transforming the founder's capabilities into the organization's management capabilities.

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If readers have questions or need further advice, please contact Mr. Hien (Director) - hiennt@atim.com.vn