April 18, 2024

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Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)

The personal fortune of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and de facto leader Lee Jae-yong has decreased by over 2 trillion won ($1.54 billion) during the first half of 2022, as shares of key Samsung affiliates tumbled due to a bearish stock market in Korea, data showed Tuesday.

As a result, the total worth of Lee’s combined stake in Samsung affiliates fell to 12.03 trillion won as of end-June from 14.19 trillion won in January, according to data by market intelligence Korea CXO Institute.

Lee‘s loss of personal wealth was the second-greatest by value during the cited period, following Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, data also showed.

Lee, however, remained the richest business magnate by stock fortune in Korea, followed by Celltrion co-founder Seo Jung-jin, Kakao’s Kim, Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun and SK Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Also, Lee was the only entrepreneur to stay in the 10 trillion won club. As of the end of 2021, Celltrion‘s Seo and Kakao’s Kim were also members of the club.

Lee owns a stake in six Samsung affiliates -- de facto holding company Samsung C&T, tech giant Samsung Electronics, IT solution firm Samsung SDS, construction firm Samsung Engineering and insurers Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.

Notably, Samsung Electronics shares dipped 27.2 percent during the first half of this year, and Samsung SDS saw a 16.9 percent drop. Samsung C&T was the only company to avert the downtrend, seeing its stock price rise by 3.3 percent during the same period.

Lee was one of the 33 chaebols in the 100 billion won club to be included in the estimate by Korea CXO Institute. The 33 chaebols‘ personal fortune fell a combined 13 trillion won, while only four out of 33 saw an increase in their fortunes.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)