Vượng was born in 1968 in Haiphong; his paternal family has origins in Ha Tinh province in central Vietnam. He grew up in Hanoi and graduated from Kim Lien High School in 1985. In 1987, he entered Hanoi University of Mining and Geology and was sent to Russia to study in the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute. He graduated from this university in 1992.
Vuong's first projects in Vietnam were Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang (opened in 2003) and Vincom City Towers (later renamed Vincom Ba Trieu) in central Hanoi (opened in 2004). Vincom went public in 2007. It merged with Vinpearl, Vuong's luxury resort Business, to form VinGroup in 2007. VinGroup is headquartered in its Riverside township in Long Biên District in Eastern Hanoi.
As of 2017, Vượng's Vincom has opened 18 shopping centers in Vietnam, 7 in Hanoi, 4 in Hồ Chí Minh City and one each in Việt Trì, Hạ Long, Hải Phòng, Đà Nẵng, Biên Hòa, Cần Thơ and Long Xuyên.
In 2015, Vuong was the richest person in the Vietnam with assets totaling 24.3 trillion Vietnam dong (approximately 1.1 billion USD), which more than quadrupled those of the second richest person, Tran Dinh Long of Hanoi Hoa Phat Corporation. His wife, Pham Thu Huong and sister-in-law Pham Thuy Hang ranked third and fifth respectively. As of April 10, 2018, Forbes estimated his net worth to be 7.5 billion US dollars.
