About
Pham Thanh Hung—widely known as “Shark Hung”—is a Vietnamese entrepreneur and investor who rose to national fame as a long-standing investor on Shark Tank Vietnam. Humanize AI In entrepreneurship, he is Vice Chairman at Cen Group and a board member at Century Land JSC (Cen Land, HOSE: CRE). Born on September 10, 1972, in Hai Duong, he’s recognized for an unflappable, analytical style and a keen interest in developing real-estate and technology businesses.
Shark Tank Vietnam (Thương vụ bạc tỷ) has aired on VTV3 since 2017, and Hung has been a fixture across seasons—one reason many founders and viewers associate him with the show’s sharpest, most practical advice.
Before Fame
Hung’s training is a blend of engineering and business. He studied metallurgical mechanical engineering at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, later added a bachelor’s degree in English, and then earned an MBA in International Business (with a concentration in Management and Technology Transfer) from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand. That mix—hands-on technical depth plus management—shows up in the way he questions founders about operations, costs, and scaling.
Before stepping into real estate and investing, Hung cut his teeth improving service quality for major auto brands such as Toyota and Ford, and held business development and customer roles at the Vietnam Productivity Center. Those early years developed his fascination with process, efficiency, and standards, which then influenced his style for constructing and assessing companies.
As his career evolved, he became a member of the Cen ecosystem leadership and later Vice Chairman of Cen Group and principal voice in shaping strategy for Cen Land and associated platforms.
Trivia
- The “engineer’s shark”: On Shark Tank Vietnam, Hung has often been described as the only investor with a core engineering background—a fact fans say explains his methodical questions about unit economics and operations.
- Tech-leaning real estate: Beyond boardroom roles, Hung champions prop-tech and data-driven valuation. He has been identified publicly as Vice Chairman of Cen Group and Chairman of Cenhomes.vn, where he talks frequently about using technology to make real-estate pricing more transparent.
- Back to school—on the other side of the lectern: In 2022, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Management Faculty at VNU’s School of Business and Management (HSB), reflecting his interest in connecting practice with education.
Family Life
Hung wed Nguyễn Thu Trang—winner of a runner-up medal in a Vietnamese community beauty contest in the Czech Republic—in 2018 in a highly discussed ocean-themed wedding. The couple went on to have twin boys (Daniel and William) in late 2021, and a third child in 2024. Hung also has two older children from a previous marriage; his wife has been publicly praised for caring for all of the kids as one family.
Associated With
As a core investor on Shark Tank Vietnam, Hung has shared the panel with notable business figures across seasons—among them Nguyen Hoa Binh (NextTech), Nguyen Xuan Phu (Sunhouse), Louis Nguyen (SAM), and venture investor Nguyen Manh Dzung (Dzũng Nguyễn). Their differing styles create the show’s dynamic debates, while Hung typically brings an analytical, operations-first lens to offers and counteroffers.
