The secretive Son Kim family: From textile cooperative to multi-industry "empire"

(Dan Tri) - Son Kim Group is one of the long-standing business empires in Vietnam, standing out with a multi-industry ecosystem including real estate, retail, fashion, media and pharmaceuticals.

From textile cooperative to multi-industry ecosystem

Son Kim is one of the oldest business families in Vietnam, with a history of more than 70 years of development through 3 generations. The person who laid the foundation for this empire is Ms. Nguyen Thi Son - one of the most influential businesswomen in the field of industry and trade in Vietnam since the end of the 20th century.

Businesswoman Nguyen Thi Son (Photo: Social Network).

The family's journey began with Dai Thanh Cooperative, a private textile and garment factory established in Saigon in 1957. After 1975, private production facilities were converted into state-owned enterprises. In 1986, the Export Garment and Leather Footwear Enterprise (later Legamex) was established.

In 1987, Ms. Nguyen Thi Son was assigned to manage Legamex and became General Director in 1989. Under her management, Legamex became one of the largest textile and garment companies, exporting to markets such as the Soviet Union, Japan, Poland and France. It was also one of the first enterprises to pilot equitization in Vietnam.

After leaving Legamex, Ms. Nguyen Thi Son founded the Lega-Fashion brand, focusing on fashion production for the domestic and export markets.

In 1993, Ms. Son founded Son Kim Investment and Development Company Limited - the predecessor of Son Kim Group, operating in many fields, including manufacturing, retail and real estate. From this point on, the next generations of the family began to participate in managing and expanding business activities.

Real estate is one of the important pillars of the group. Son Kim Group, under the leadership of Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, the eldest son of Ms. Son, established SonKim Land, specializing in developing high-end real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City.

Projects such as The Nassim, Gateway Thao Dien, The Metropole Thu Thiem or Serenity Sky Villas have positioned SonKim Land as a luxury real estate brand, competing with big names at home and abroad.

Son Kim Group ecosystem (Source: Son Kim Group).

As the "trump card" in its long-term growth strategy, SonKim Land continues to expand its scale with large-scale projects such as The 9 Stellars (16.5ha complex in Thu Duc City), The Galleria Residence (456 apartments), The Crest Residence (240 apartments), The Opera Residence (646 apartments), and limited products such as Serenity Sky Villas (45 separate apartments in the city center).

At the end of 2024, SonKim Land was involved in a scandal over a "golden land" project in District 1 (HCMC). Accordingly, the International Square Hotel project located at 39 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai was jointly implemented by SonKim Land, Sato Company and Foreign Agency Services Company Limited (Fosco).

However, the Ho Chi Minh City Inspectorate concluded that this cooperation did not comply with the correct procedures and legal authority. Fosco handed over the house and land to ISH Company (a joint venture between 3 parties) for business exploitation while the project's legal documents were not complete, the investment policy and investment decision had not been approved.

This is not consistent with the approved plan for arranging and handling houses and land, leading to a recommendation to terminate the cooperation and liquidate the capital contribution contract to avoid loss of state assets.

In addition to real estate, Son Kim Group also "encroached" on the fashion sector and established Son Kim Mode.

One of the first and other successful brands of Son Kim Group is VERA - a women's lingerie brand launched in 1997 through a joint venture with Quadrille Nishida fashion company (Japan). In 2001, the company continued to bring the American brand Jockey to Vietnam, expanding into product lines for men and sportswear .

In 2006, Son Kim Retail established Vision 21 - a multimedia communications company, which later developed into GS Shop through cooperation with GS Home Shopping (Korea), implementing an integrated retail model between television, e-commerce and physical stores. In the same year, the company also established SonKim Bac Ninh to expand production and distribution activities.

The period from 2017 marked an important turning point when Son Kim Retail was officially established under the parent corporation model - focusing on investing in industries with high growth rates. Also in this year, Son Kim signed a franchise cooperation agreement with the GS25 convenience store chain from Korea, initiating a modern retail development strategy in Vietnam.

In addition to retail, Son Kim Retail has also expanded into the F&B sector with joint ventures with international chefs. In 2019, the company partnered with Japanese restaurant chain Watami to launch brands such as Watami Japanese Dining and Kyo Watami in Vietnam.

In parallel with brand development, Son Kim built its own supply chain by establishing Global Target and Logis DC Park - serving private label production for internal retail systems and export.

In 2020, the company continued to expand into the health and beauty care sector with the HealthSpa brand, gradually perfecting its orientation to become an integrated lifestyle ecosystem.

5 children of Son Kim family

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Van is Ms. Son's first daughter. Ms. Van started her own business in the garment export industry. She and her husband, Mr. Ho Nhan, later founded Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, a unit that produces drugs to treat cancer and hepatitis and researches the Nanocovax vaccine.

Since 2021, she has been serving as the General Director and legal representative of Nanogen. In addition, she co-founded Duy Tan High School but has transferred management to focus on the pharmaceutical sector.

The second son, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Tuan, is a key leader in Son Kim Group. Son Kim Land has attracted large investments from EXS Capital, Hongkong Land and ACA Investments.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Son with her son Nguyen Hoang Tuan - Chairman of Son Kim Group (Blue vest, standing 2nd from left) and grandchildren (Photo: Social Network).

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Anh is a son who pursues a different path when choosing the coffee industry. As the founder of the Golden Mountain Coffee & Tea brand, he focuses on producing clean coffee, aiming at international standards and exporting. Starting from a personal passion, he has now built a chain of stores with many international certifications such as UTZ, Rainforest, FairTrade.

As the youngest child in the family, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Lam is currently the founder and operator of Duy Quan Interior Design Company. Initially, he established the business with the support of his siblings.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Trang is the youngest daughter and also one of the key personnel of the group. She currently holds the position of CEO of the GS25 Vietnam convenience store chain and is a member of the Board of Directors of Son Kim Mode. Choosing to accompany her mother and siblings in running the business, Ms. Hong Trang has contributed to expanding operations in the modern retail sector.

Recently, Ms. Nguyen Thi Son - founder of Son Kim Group, and also mother-in-law of Mr. Ho Nhan, posted a press release about Mr. Ho Nhan - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company - passing away due to heart disease.

"The family and Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company are deeply saddened to announce that Dr. Ho Nhan, a pioneering scientist and entrepreneur in the field of biotechnology in Vietnam, passed away at 4:25 p.m. on May 12, at the age of 59," the announcement stated.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/gia-toc-kin-tieng-son-kim-tu-hop-tac-xa-det-may-den-de-che-da-nganh-20250513162309547.htm