Contradictory Moves
Market research firm CEO Score said on Dec. 11 that the combined stock value of the 30 major business group owners and their families increased by more than 15.5 trillion won (US$14.1 billion) from a year earlier to 111.73 trillion won (US$101.5 billion) despite the drop in stock prices as of late.
The total based on the Dec. 5 closing price amounted to approximately 27.63 trillion won (US$25.0 billion) for the owners of the Samsung Group, followed by those of Hyundai (17.35 trillion won, US$15.7 billion) and those of LG (10.05 trillion won, US$9.12 billion).
A total of 728 persons belong to the 30 families, which means each of the individuals is in possession of stocks worth 153 billion won (US$139 million) on average.
The value of the shares increased by 16.1 percent year-on-year from 96.23 trillion won (US$87.35 billion), while the number of stockholders in the families went up by 25. Twenty-eight out of the 728, including Chairman Lee Kun-hee, were in the Samsung Group.
The fourth and fifth places were taken by the Amore-Pacific owners (7.44 trillion won, US$6.75 billion) and SK Group owners (5.28 trillion won, US$4.79 billion), respectively.