Over the past year, the stock valuations of the heads of 45 major groups in Korea have increased by more than 35.4 trillion won.
In particular, Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong saw his stock value rise by more than 13.9 trillion won, pushing his valuation to over 25.87 trillion won in early this month.
On Jan. 5, Korea CXO Institute, a corporations analysis think tank, said its review of changes in stock valuations for major group heads based on Jan. 2 last year and Jan. 2 this month showed that those surveyed saw their total stock valuation rise from 57.8801 trillion won at the start of last year to 93.3388 trillion won at the start of this year, up 35.4587 trillion won (61.3%) in one year.
Those surveyed were 45 group chiefs whose stock valuations were at least 100 billion won as of early this year among 92 large business groups designated last year by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Of them, 41 saw their stock valuations increase over the year, accounting for 91.1% of the total.
The head whose stock valuation rose the most over the past year was Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong.
The value of the shares the chair held at the start of last year was about 11.9099 trillion won, but after topping 20 trillion won in Oct. last year, it was assessed at 25.8766 trillion won at the start of this year. Thanks to increases of at least 1 trillion won each over the year in Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance.
In particular, the value of Samsung Electronics shares surged from 5.2019 trillion won to 12.5177 trillion won over the year, an increase of more than 7.3158 trillion won. The Samsung C&T stock valuation also increased by 4.9051 trillion won, influenced in part by the inclusion of 1,808,577 Samsung C&T shares gifted on the 2nd by mother Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of Leeum Museum of Art.
Oil-seon, head of Korea CXO Institute, said, "Attention is turning to the possibility that the chair's stock value could surpass 30 trillion won in the future," and noted, "If Samsung Electronics' share price climbs into the 170,000–180,000 won range, a stock tycoon with 30 trillion won in holdings could emerge in Korea."
Next to the chair, the head whose stock valuation rose the most was Celltrion Chair Seo Jung-Jin. Seo's stock valuation increased by 3.2606 trillion won, from 10.4308 trillion won at the start of last year to 13.6914 trillion won at the start of this year.
Kakao founder and head of the Future Initiative Center Kim Beom-su and HD Hyundai's largest shareholder and Asan Foundation Chair Chung Mong-joon also saw their stock wealth increase by more than 2 trillion won over the past year. In addition, HYBE Board Chair Bang Si-hyuk, Hyundai Motor Chair Chung Eui-sun, SK Chair Chey Tae-won, and Hyosung Chair Cho Hyun-joon each posted increases of more than 1 trillion won over the same period.
Meanwhile, the head with the highest stock wealth growth rate over the past year was Wonik Chair Lee Yong-han, the review was found. Lee's stock valuation rose 503.7%, from 129.7 billion won at the start of last year to 783.2 billion won at the start of this year.
The chair holds shares in three issues—WONIK HOLDINGS, Wonik QnC, and WONIK CUBE—and in particular, WONIK HOLDINGS' share price jumped 1,595.7%, from 2,810 won at the start of last year to 47,650 won at the start of this year, driving the increase in stock wealth.