Industry data released recently indicated that Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics Co. remains at the forefront among wealthy individuals in Korea due to a significant rise in his equity holdings in the past year, attributed to the strong performance of the local stock market.
According to the data provided by corporate tracker CEO Score, as of Friday, the top 100 shareholders of publicly traded companies collectively possessed shares valued at 177.2 trillion won ($119.6 billion), reflecting a notable increase of 64.6 percent from the previous year-end figure of 107.6 trillion won.
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During the specified time frame, the stock value of Lee increased significantly, almost doubling from 12.3 trillion won to 23.4 trillion won, due to substantial increases in the shares of Samsung Group affiliates. His investments in Samsung Electronics increased to 10.4 trillion won from 5.2 trillion won, with the stock prices of Samsung C&T Corp. and Samsung Life Insurance Co. also experiencing significant rises of 116.9 percent and 63.5 percent, respectively.
Next month, it is anticipated that his stock value will increase even more, as he will be receiving a 1.06 percent ownership stake in Samsung C&T from his mother, Hong Ra-hee. She is the director of the Leeum Museum of Art and the widow of the late Lee Kun-hee, the former Chairman of Samsung Group.
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Cho Jung-ho, the chairman of Meritz Financial Group, held the second position with a stock value of 10.7 trillion, a significant increase from the 10.2 trillion won recorded at the end of 2024.
The Samsung founding family members followed the previous recipients, with Hong ranking third with 9.8 trillion won.
His daughters, Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, who hold executive positions within the Samsung Group, ranked fourth and fifth with 8.8 trillion won and 8.2 trillion won, respectively. Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman and creator of the prominent K-pop conglomerate Hybe Co., captured the 10th position on the list with a stock value of 4.1 trillion won.
On the other hand, three individuals belonging to the K-pop sensation BTS, specifically Jimin, V, and Jungkook, were featured on a distinct inventory of the most affluent young individuals holding stocks.
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Several months ago, Lee Jae-yong made a visit to the chip facilities of the company located in Gyeonggi Province, emphasizing the recent improvement in chip production performance within its Device Solutions Division. He inspected the construction progress at NRD-K, a research and development complex spanning 109,000 square meters in the Giheung District of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Samsung has committed an investment of 20 trillion won, equivalent to $13.5 billion, for the development of this facility until 2030.
NRD-K commenced the installation of its infrastructure in November of the previous year. This included cutting-edge extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment for the advancement of next-generation memory semiconductor technology, as well as deposition tools for novel materials and a wafer bonding system engineered to facilitate the creation of bonded structures connecting two wafers.
Lee received a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in next-generation technologies for memory, foundry, and system semiconductors during the visit, and also had the opportunity to tour newly installed R&D facilities within the cluster.