Tycoon brings McDonald's to Vietnam after 10 year crusade
Fast food businessman Henry Nguyen spent 10 years campaigning to bring McDonald's to Vietnam, but his timing may be questionable
Tycoon Henry Nguyen mopped floors, flipped burgers and even cleaned toilets over a 10-year campaign to convince McDonald's to let him bring Big Macs and Happy Meals to communist Vietnam.
McDonald's is making a late entry into this market, where Yum Brands already has dozens of Pizza Hut and KFC outlets and Burger King has 15 restaurants.
Even Starbucks debuted in Ho Chi Minh City in February and opened its second branch last week.
Capitalism has taken root in a country that many Americans associate more with an unpopular war than rising wealth. The super-rich are becoming household names in Vietnam, which showcased its first billionaire in June on the cover of its inaugural edition of Forbes magazine.
Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American who set up Pizza Hut in Vietnam six years ago, says he has lived and breathed McDonald's. He studied its business model as part of his master's degree, and pursued the Vietnam franchise opportunity for a decade - even as he worked with rival Yum.