Kwon No-jung, CEO of SK Hynix, has become the top non-owner stockholder in South Korea's semiconductor industry. This marks the first time that a SK Hynix executive has surpassed Samsung Electronics executives, who have traditionally dominated the semiconductor stock wealth rankings. The recent surge in SK Hynix's stock price, driven by enhanced competitiveness in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), has significantly increased the value of executives' stock holdings.
According to a report released on May 14 by the corporate analysis firm Korea CXO Research Institute, Kwon's stock valuation stood at 28.28051 billion won as of May 13.
This amount exceeds the 27.9 billion won valuation of Noh Tae-moon, CEO of Samsung Electronics, by approximately 3 billion won.
This is the first instance of an SK Hynix executive leading the stock valuation rankings among non-owner executives in the semiconductor sector.
Kwon holds 14,312 shares of SK Hynix, based on the closing price of 1,976,000 won on May 13. His stock valuation has increased from about 2.9 billion won last October to over 25.3 billion won in just six months, reflecting a staggering growth rate of 861%.
During the same period, SK Hynix's stock price rose from 510,000 won to 1,976,000 won, marking an increase of approximately 287%. Samsung Electronics also saw its stock price rise from 98,800 won to 284,000 won, but the increase was relatively modest.
The report highlighted a notable increase in asset values among semiconductor executives. A total of 1,207 executives at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix hold stocks, with 258 non-owner executives having stock valuations exceeding 1 billion won, accounting for 21.4% of the total. This represents more than an eightfold increase from just 31 executives last October. Compared to the previous month's report, which identified 173 executives, an additional 85 have joined the '1 billion club' in just over a month.
By company, 170 Samsung Electronics executives and 88 SK Hynix executives hold stock assets valued at over 1 billion won. While Samsung has a higher absolute number, SK Hynix has demonstrated a faster rate of asset growth.
Notably, the asset growth of Choi Seon-yong, another SK Hynix executive, has been remarkable. His stock valuation has surged from about 800 million won last October to 13.5 billion won this month, reflecting an increase of 1,524%. His shareholding has grown from 1,629 shares to 6,834 shares, compounded by the rise in stock price.
In contrast, Noh Tae-moon's stock value has increased from approximately 5 billion won last October to the current 27.9 billion won, an increase of over 22.9 billion won, with a growth rate of 459%. However, SK Hynix executives have shown a faster rate of asset growth.
Oh Il-seon, head of Korea CXO Research Institute, stated, "Ten years ago, there were no executives at SK Hynix with stock values exceeding 1 billion won. This change in rankings symbolizes how rapidly SK Hynix is growing in the stock market."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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