Macabre Market
Due to the rumors of deterioration in Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s health, Samsung Group stock prices have bounced up.
As rumors that the press are preparing articles on Lee’s death spread through the messengers of stock firms on April 15, there have been increasing talks of Lee’s health problems. But Samsung Group official denied the rumors, saying, “It is completely untrue.”
Next month will be a full year since Lee underwent surgery for an acute myocardial infarction.
Yesterday, the day of the rumors, the stocks that the Samsung owner's family has, including Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, all increased. Cheil Industries hit a new ceiling at a price of 70,200 won (US$64.02). Also, the stock price of Samsung SDS increased by 13,500 won (US$12.31), or 5.27 percent, to 269,500 won (US$245.76), while the price of Samsung C&T increased by 2,600 won (US$2.37), or 4.26 percent, to 63,600 won (US$58).
The stock of Samsung SDS once soared by 11 percent, but closed at 269,500 won (US$245.76), a 5.27 percent increase. Samsung C&T also increased by more than 5 percent and closed at 63,600 won (US$58), a 4.26 percent increase.
Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee's children, including Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, hold significant shares in Cheil Industries and Samsung SDS. For Cheil Industries, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is the largest shareholder at 23.25 percent. His sisters, Cheil Industries President Lee Seo-hyun and Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, have 7.75 percent each.
In Samsung SDS Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has an 11.25 percent share, while his sisters have 3.9 percent shares, respectively. The stock prices owned by Chairman Lee's wife, Hong Ra-Hee, also showed a sudden rise, including those in CoreLogic, Pheonix Materials, and STS Semiconductor.
The business and stock industries believed that a specific power maliciously spread the rumors of Chairman Lee’s death to stock investors in a bid to take a margin from Samsung-related stock prices.
An official from the business industry said, “When Chairman Lee dies, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is highly likely to be a successor to him. Therefore, the stock prices of Cheil Industries and Samsung SDS, which are at the heart of the management structural change, seemed to bounce up.”