Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The chief of global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co. has remained South Korea’s richest stockholder as the value of shares held by the country’s wealthiest 100 swelled nearly 20 percent over the past year, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong held stocks worth 14.7 trillion won (US$11.3 billion) as of Tuesday, up about 26 percent from Dec. 29 a year earlier and the biggest among them, according to CEO Score.
Lee, who virtually controls South Korea’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group, also chalked up the largest increase of nearly 3 trillion won over the last year.
Lee was followed by his mother and two younger sisters. His mother, Hong Ra-hee, placed second in the country’s stock-rich rankings with 9.2 trillion won, followed by Boo-jin, chairwoman of Hotel Shilla Co., with around 7 trillion won and Seo-hyun, in charge of the Samsung Welfare Foundation, with slightly over 6 trillion won.
The 100 wealthiest stockholders owned a combined 118.8 trillion won worth of listed shares, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier.
The jump comes as South Korea’s stock market has been on a roll despite a slowing economy.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has expanded 16.4 percent over the last year, with the index of the tech-laden KOSDAQ market soaring nearly 25 percent.
Lee Dong-chae, former chairman of leading battery materials maker EcoPro, and three other businessmen newly joined the club of those who own stocks worth 1 trillion won or more.
In contrast, Kim Beom-su, founder and chief of Kakao Corp., South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator, and other business tycoons suffered setbacks.
Kim saw his stock holdings drop 1.4 percent during the one-year period, with those of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Suh Kyung-bae, president of top cosmetics maker Amorepacific Corp., dipping 7.4 percent and 14.2 percent, respectively, according to CEO Score.
(Yonhap)
