This year, the value of equity held by the top 100 stock tycoons in Korea grew by nearly 7 trillion won over a year. Buoyed by rising share prices, Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong took the No. 1 spot among stock tycoons this year.
On the 24th, CEO Score, a corporate data research institute, said its review of individual shareholders' holdings and stock values at listed companies as of late December last year and the 19th of this month showed the value of equity held by the top 100 stock tycoons rose from 107,631.4 billion won to 177,213.1 billion won, up 69,581.7 billion won (64.6%).
The value of shares held by Chair Lee, who ranked No. 1, surged from 12,003.3 billion won to 23,359.0 billion won over the same period, an increase of 11,326.0 billion won (94.1%). This is attributed to a broad-based rise in the share prices of key affiliates including Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance.
The value of Samsung Electronics shares held by Lee increased from 5,188.5 billion won to 10,366.6 billion won, up 5,178.1 billion won (99.8%). The values of Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance shares also rose by 4,546.8 billion won (116.9%) and 1,256.9 billion won (63.5%), respectively.
In addition, because Lee is set to receive as a gift the entire holding of Samsung C&T shares (1,808,577 shares; equity stake 1.06%) owned by his mother, Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of Leeum Museum of Art, the value of his holdings is expected to expand further. The gift date is Jan. 2 next year.
No. 2 was Cho Jung-ho, chair of Meritz Financial Group, whose shareholdings were valued at 10,713.1 billion won. The increase over a year was 547.4 billion won (5.4%). From No. 3 to No. 5 were honorary director Hong Ra-hee (9,820.2 billion won), Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin (8,838.9 billion won), and Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun (8,117.3 billion won), the three Samsung family daughters.
Among the top 10, first-generation founder stock tycoons Park Soon-jae, CEO of Alteogen (4,572.3 billion won), and HYBE Chair Bang Si-hyuk ranked No. 8 and No. 10, respectively.
Twenty people newly entered the top 100 stock tycoons this year. They included Chief Technology Officer Nam Do-hyun of Aimed Bio (1,561.5 billion won; No. 28), ROBOTIS CEO Kim Byeong-soo (974.6 billion won; No. 40), Hanwha Group Vice Chair Kim Dong-Kwan (623.5 billion won; No. 59), and Myung In Pharm Chair Lee Haeng-myung (540.8 billion won; No. 68).
By age group, stock tycoons in their 30s also stood out. Kim Byung-hoon, CEO of APR Co. (2,904.7 billion won), born in 1988, and Oh Su-jeong (born in 1986), the child of Rainbow Robotics founder Oh Jun-ho, both made the top 100 list of stock tycoons.
Among listed-company stock tycoons aged 30 or younger, the value of equity held increased by 801.0 billion won (47.8%) over a year. Of these, three individuals had equity worth more than 100.0 billion won: Gwak Ho-seong (286.5 billion won), the eldest son of HANMI Semiconductor Chair Gwak Dong-shin; Gwak Ho-jung (286.5 billion won), the second son; and Lee Ju-hwan (100.2 billion won), the eldest son of SL Corporation Vice Chair Lee Seong-yeop.
In addition, BTS members Jimin, V, and Jungkook made the list of the top 100 stock tycoons aged 30 or younger at listed companies.