hankyoreh

and his wife and three children are also included on the list of the country’s richest people. In this photo

By Lee Jung-ae, staff reporter

South Korea is home to 35 people with personal assets worth more than one trillion won (US$969 million). Just ten of them are self-made billionaires who grew rich by starting their own businesses. The “richest of the rich” list includes Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, his wife, and their three children.

The web site Chaebul.com investigated the personal assets of employees at 1,883 listed companies and 21,280 non-listed companies with assets of 10 billion won (US$9.7 million) or more as of late July, including stocks and real estate registered in the name of majority shareholders and executives. The top 400 people accounted for a total of 183.9 trillion won (US$178.1 billion) in assets, the site announced on Aug. 4. Average per capita holdings for this segment totaled 459 billion won (US$444.6 million).

South Korea’s richest man was Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics who has been in and out of consciousness since suffering a stroke in May, with total assets of 13.29 billion won (US$12.9 billion) in listed and non-listed stock value and real estate holdings, including his home in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood.

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo ranked second with personal assets of 7.64 billion won (US$7.4 billion) in stocks and real estate, putting him 5.64 billion won (US$5.5 billion) behind Lee.

In third place was Lee’s son Jae-yong, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics, with personal assets of 5.18 billion won (US$5.0 billion). In addition to his Hannam home, the younger Lee’s total included Samsung Electronics stocks and shares in the unlisted Samsung Everland and Samsung SDS, which are set to go public.

Fourth was Hyundai Motor vice chairman Chung Eui-sun, with 4.46 billion won (US$4.3 billion) in stocks and real estate. AmorePacific CEO Suh Kyung-bae ranked fifth after a rise in his company’s stock values boosted his assets to 4.34 billion won (US$4.2 billion).

In sixth to tenth place were SK Chairman Chey Tae-won (3.5 trillion won), Kyobo Life Insurance CEO Shin Chang-jae (2.24 trillion won), Lotte Group CEO Shin Dong-bin (2.19 trillion won), CJ Group chairman Lee Jae-hyun (2.16 trillion won), and Lotte Japan Vice Chairman Shin Dong-ju (1.97 trillion won).

While 35 people had more than 1 trillion won in assets, only ten of them (28.6%) had amassed their wealth by starting their own businesses. One of these self-made billionaires was Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Jung-geun, who made his fortune in real estate. With 1.81 trillion won in assets, including stock in unlisted companies and his residence in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood, Lee ranked first among self-made billionaires and twelfth overall.

NXC Chairman Kim Jeong-ju, the man behind Nexon’s success, has 1.47 billion won (ranked fifteenth) in assets, the wealthiest of those representing new venture companies. Lee Hae-jin, chairman and controlling stockholder for Naver, Korea’s largest internet search engine (1.35 trillion won, seventeenth) and NCSOFT President Kim Taek-jin (1.21 trillion won, twenty-fifth), also joined the ranks of the superrich.

The five women in the ranks of the superrich were either born into chaebol families or inherited their wealth. They included Hong Ra-hee, wife of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and director of the Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, and their daughters Lee Boo-jin, president of the Hotel Shilla (1.33 trillion won), and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Cheil Industries (1.27 trillion won). Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of the Shinsegae Group (1.90 trillion won), is also part of the larger Samsung group.

Lee Hwa-kyung, vice chairperson for Orion who has assets worth 1.98 trillion won, is from the family that owns the Tongyang Group.

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