April 25, 2024
Stocks & Bonds
Inheritance accounts for bulk of stock rich in Korea
[THE INVESTOR] More than half of South Korea’s top stock wealthy have become rich from inheritance, an analysis by a corporate watcher showed on Jan. 4.
Utilizing the annually announced figures from Forbes, CEO Score tracked assets held by 160 of the most stock rich in South Korea and 40 from countries such as Japan, the US and China, from 2007 to 2017.
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Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee (left) and his son, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong |
In the findings, 112, or 70 percent, of the people on the list were self-made who gained wealth by starting a company. The remaining 30 percent were heirs of wealth. In 2007, 60 percent were self-made.
Inheritance was more prominent among South Korea’s rich. Of the 40 people on the list, 25 of them or 62.5 percent, were beneficiaries of handed-down wealth, compared to 25 percent in the US, 30 percent in Japan and 2.5 percent in China.
The statistics indicates that not much has changed since 2007, when 77.5 percent were heirs, which was much higher than 45 percent in the US and 35 percent in Japan.
In terms of the size of assets owned by the 160 people, the monetary value nearly doubled over the 10-year period from US$818.3 billion in 2007 to US$1.667 trillion this year.
The analysis showed that 51.3 percent of the people on the list had changed during the measured years, including 42.5 percent in South Korea.
Lee Kun-hee, the ailing Samsung patriarch who is the second-generation heir of Samsung Group, was rated as the richest in Korea with US$12.6 billion, followed by Suh Kyeong-bae, head of cosmetics giant AmorePacific Group, who was valued at US$8.4 billion.
Suh’s assets had increased 663.6 percent from 2007, making him the fastest gainer of wealth among the country’s listed rich.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the son of Lee Kun-hee, ranked third with US$6.2 billion. Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, ranked next with US$4.8 billion. Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon, came in fifth with US$4.1 billion.
(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)
