Sluggish KOSPI hits conglomerate leaders' stock assets hard

Samsung chairman’s stock holdings decrease by nearly 3 tril. won

By Yi Whan-woo

The total value of shares held by chiefs of the country’s 44 major business groups shrank by more than 6 trillion won ($4.07 billion) as the benchmark KOSPI struggled with one of the world’s worst performances of 2024, according to data released Monday.

According to the data from market tracker Korea CXO Institute, the 44 business tycoons held stocks worth a combined 58.15 trillion won at the start of 2025. The amount was down by 6.61 trillion won or 10.2 percent from a year earlier.

The fall in their stock value came after the KOSPI finished 2024 by losing 9.7 percent from the previous year.

In particular, Seoul’s main bourse in the second half of 2024 plummeted year-on-year by 14 percent and was ranked 20th among 21 major economies’ stock exchanges.

The 44 business leaders were listed as stock-rich Koreans whose shares were worth more than 100 billion won.

Nevertheless, 28 of them saw their stock assets decrease sharply in value due to a bearish market, while the remaining 16 enjoyed increases.

The finding suggests 65.6 percent of the 44 individuals were hit by the KOSPI’s lackluster performance.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong saw the largest decrease among the 28, with his stock holdings sinking by 2.95 trillion won — from 14.86 trillion won to 11.9 trillion won.

Lee suffered the loss as Samsung Electronics has been falling behind in the artificial intelligence (AI) boom and corresponding chip supply after reigning as the world's largest memory chip manufacturer.

EcoPro founder Lee Dong-chae saw the value of his stocks falling at the fastest rate of 56.7 percent among the 28 individuals.

Several business leaders saw the value of their shares falling by more than 30 percent, such as Kakao founder Kim Beom-su with 35.4 percent and Harim Chairman Kim Hong-kuk with 31.7 percent.

In the meantime, Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won enjoyed a whopping 185.1 percent surge in the value of his stocks — from 121.2 billion won to 345.6 billion won.

The surge was attributable to a sharp gain in the group’s stock price.

HDC Chairman Chung Mong-gyu saw a 66.5 percent increase in his stock value, and Krafton Chairman Jang Byung-kyu saw a 61.6 percent rise.

Among the business leaders, the Samsung Electronics chairman remained the wealthiest stock holder. Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin came in second with stock assets totaling 10.43 trillion won, followed by Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun whose stocks were worth 4.29 trillion won.