In the second quarter of this year, South Korea's stock market showed strong performance, leading to an increase of over 29 trillion won in the stock wealth of major business leaders. However, most of this gain was concentrated in the fortunes of Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, while the stock values of many other leaders actually declined. Analysis revealed that six out of ten business leaders saw a decrease in their stock valuations, indicating that the benefits of the market surge were not evenly distributed.
On July 14, the Korea CXO Research Institute released the results of its survey on the changes in stock valuations of 46 business leaders designated by the Fair Trade Commission, all of whom had stock valuations exceeding 1 billion won as of the end of June. The stock valuations were calculated based on the closing prices at the end of March and June.
The survey included cases where business leaders directly held shares in listed companies, as well as instances where they indirectly held shares in listed affiliates through unlisted companies. Unlisted companies were limited to those where the leader held more than 50% of the shares, and preferred stocks were also included in the analysis.
The total stock valuation of the 46 business leaders increased from 104.4 trillion won at the end of March to 133.6 trillion won at the end of June, a rise of 29.2 trillion won, or 28%. However, excluding Lee Jae-yong and Choi Tae-won, the remaining stock valuations actually decreased by 5.9 trillion won, or 8.6%. Among the 46 surveyed, 28 leaders (60.9%) experienced a decline in their stock wealth.
Lee Jae-yong saw the largest increase in stock value during the second quarter. His stock valuation rose from 30.9 trillion won at the end of March to 59.2 trillion won at the end of June, an increase of 28.2 trillion won, making him the clear leader in terms of absolute gain. This represented a growth rate of 91.3%. The rise in stock prices of Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T drove this expansion, with Lee's stock valuation briefly exceeding 64 trillion won in June.
Choi Tae-won achieved the highest growth rate, with his stock wealth soaring from 3.9 trillion won to 10.8 trillion won, a staggering increase of 176.9%. The stock price of SK Inc., his holding company, jumped from 301,000 won to 834,000 won over three months, marking the first time his stock wealth surpassed 10 trillion won. Notably, Choi does not directly hold shares in SK Hynix, making the increase in his wealth primarily attributable to the rise in SK's stock price.
Additionally, Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon saw an increase of 9.7 trillion won, while LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo gained 3.9 trillion won, Doosan Group Chairman Park Jung-won added 2.8 trillion won, Hyundai Department Store Group Chairman Jung Ji-sun increased by 2.6 trillion won, and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun rose by 2.4 trillion won, all exceeding 1 trillion won in gains. In terms of growth rate, LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun (34.1%), Chairman Jung Ji-sun (27.6%), and Chairman Cho Hyun-joon (27.1%) followed.
Conversely, several leaders saw declines in their stock wealth despite the market's rise. Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jeong-jin experienced a decrease of 1.6 trillion won in the second quarter alone, while HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and Kakao founder Kim Beom-soo lost 1.4 trillion won and 1.2 trillion won, respectively. Bang's stock wealth fell by 35.8%, the highest decline rate among those surveyed.
As of the end of June, there were 16 business leaders with stock wealth exceeding 1 trillion won. Lee Jae-yong maintained the top position with 59.2 trillion won, followed by Seo Jeong-jin (11.9 trillion won) and Choi Tae-won (10.8 trillion won). This marks the first time Choi's stock wealth has surpassed 10 trillion won. Following them were Chung Eui-sun (7.8 trillion won), Cho Hyun-joon (4.6 trillion won), Chung Mong-joon (4.2 trillion won), Kim Beom-soo, EcoPro founder Lee Dong-chae, Bang Si-hyuk, and Koo Kwang-mo, all of whom ranked within the top ten.
Oh Il-seon, head of the Korea CXO Research Institute, stated, "About two-thirds of the stocks held by business leaders saw price declines in the second quarter. In the third quarter, there is a growing possibility of adjustments, particularly for stocks that have risen significantly, alongside profit-taking sales and external variables such as interest rates and exchange rates, which could increase market volatility."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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