As of last year, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and his wife, Sung Hyun-ok, a professor at Sejong University, saw their assets increase by 1.4 billion won over the year, with the value of their U.S. stock investments, initiated last year, doubling. The revenue was about 100%. Mayor Oh achieved this success through investments in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, small modular reactors (SMRs), and Bitcoin-related stocks that captured the attention of so-called ‘stock enthusiasts’ in Korea last year. However, if these stocks had not been sold, their wealth would likely have seen a decrease.
According to the government gazette on the 27th, Mayor Oh's asset declaration for this year (including his spouse) is 7.4553 billion won. This is an increase of 1.42954 billion won compared to last year's amount of 5.97599 billion won. Most of the increased wealth comes from the U.S. stocks in which he started investing last year.
Mayor Oh reduced his deposits by 396.95 million won by terminating expired insurance and financial products last year. In addition, he sold Brazilian government bonds worth 36.42 million won and 257 shares of SillaJen, a listed company on the Korea Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ), for 1.54 million won. The total amount secured through these transactions was 434.92 million won.
Last year, Mayor Oh acquired 1,241 shares of MicroStrategy (now renamed 'Strategy'), 2,500 shares of IonQ, 1,100 shares of NVIDIA, and 1,310 shares of Palantir. The combined value of these four stocks at the end of last year was 1.05191 billion won. If the amount secured had been entirely used to purchase U.S. stocks, the revenue excluding the principal would have been 619.8 million won, with a revenue rate of 141.9%.
The revenue rate for Professor Sung, Mayor Oh's wife, is half that of her husband. Professor Sung secured 674.74 million won by terminating expired insurance and financial products and 359.03 million won by selling Brazilian government bonds. The total amount she accumulated is 1.07169 billion won.
Professor Sung purchased 220 shares of TSMC (ADR), 2,860 shares of NuScale Power, 1,100 shares of Rigetti Computing, 1,065 shares of MicroStrategy, 900 shares of SoundHound AI, 3,850 shares of IonQ, 100 shares of ARM Holdings (ADR), 2,846 shares of NVIDIA, 621 shares of Oklo, 375 shares of Tesla, and 1,270 shares of Palantir.
The valuation of the 11 stocks owned by Professor Sung as of the end of last year was 1.84312 billion won. If the funds generated from selling financial products had been entirely used for stock investments, the revenue would be 80.934 million won, resulting in a revenue rate of 78.3%.
Combining the investments of Mayor Oh and Professor Sung, they invested a principal of 1.4687 billion won in 11 U.S. stocks, and the valuation at the end of last year reached 2.89503 billion won. The revenue was 1.42633 billion won, reflecting a revenue rate of 97.1%.
Mayor Oh and Professor Sung invested in stocks that were particularly popular in last year's stock market. Stocks like NVIDIA, Palantir, and TSMC are representative of AI-related stocks. Electric vehicle companies like Tesla are also grouped with AI-related stocks. NuScale Power and Oklo are SMR-related stocks, recognized as being essential to meet the rising demand for electricity in the AI era.
IonQ and Rigetti Computing are stocks related to quantum computing. Strategy operates as a corporation but primarily invests in Bitcoin. Initially a software (SW) company, it began purchasing Bitcoin in 2020, issuing corporate bonds or taking out bank loans to fund these purchases. When the price of Bitcoin rises, the stock price of Strategy also increases.
Mayor Oh and Professor Sung also heavily invested in American stocks that the so-called ‘stock enthusiasts’ flocked to last year. According to the Bank of Korea, as of the 18th, the top 10 U.S. stocks held by domestic individual investors are led by Tesla, followed by NVIDIA, and Palantir in fourth place. In December of last year, analysis from the Korea Securities Depository indicated that domestic investors own 31.2% of IonQ shares.
If Mayor Oh has not changed the stocks he has held so far, his wealth is projected to have decreased somewhat. The U.S. stock market has shown signs of stagnation due to reasons including trade wars since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, recently stated in January that 'it will take at least 20 years for usable quantum computers to emerge,' leading to a collapse in IonQ's stock price.
On the 19th, at a special lecture for the National Student Councils held at Soong Sil University, Mayor Oh said, “When I was young, I aspired to be a lawyer, but after making some money, I invested in stocks and lost it all. Therefore, the valuable lesson I learned is that one must study and invest.”
He added, “Honestly, I do invest in Korean exchange-traded funds (ETFs) but our market isn't doing well. These days, the U.S. market is good,” and noted, “High-ranking public officials should not invest in our (stock market). So I had to reluctantly become a stock enthusiast. I invested in the U.S. ETFs. Those who invested in the U.S. last year likely had quite high revenue.” He commented, “To become a public official, I had no choice but to sell something good, which allowed me to recover a little from the losses I incurred last year.”