South Korea often proclaims to itself as “a country that does not produce oil” ― a sort of rallying cry to encourage itself to survive in a largely oil-based world order. Oil is necessity for improving one’s industries, and some people have become billionaires by taking over oil production, distribution and filtration.The total assets of the current 85 oil billionaires and eight royal families in the oil business amount to $550 billion, much higher than Korea’s yearly budget.But the oil industry

On the evening of Jan. 15, LG chairman Koo Bon-moo appeared as determined as ever. “Let the brand LG become the symbol of innovation, the true ‘first class’ that lives forever,” he told a group of company executives at a dinner party. “We have had hard times but managed to overcome them. Let that become our motive for a better future,” he said. Koo led 40 top executives of the group on a two-day training session before the dinner and stressed innovation.  Koo Bon-moo. (Illustration By Park Gee-y

When global companies like Uber and IKEA expanded their business into South Korea last year, local taxi firms and retailers were caught off guard by their cheap pricing and fresh business ideas. And it was natural for their billionaire founders, Travis Kalanik and Ingvar Kamprad, respectively, to make headlines here for their success stories and underlying strategies.This year, more ― and bigger ― billionaires are in store to make inroads into in Korea, posing a challenge to their local competit

While Jack Ma inspires with his rags-to-riches story, Korean chaebol owners lead ‘dreamy’ lifestyles

We love, hate, envy, admire and emulate the traits of the rich men. In the digital era, we share information, impression and our feelings toward the superrich online. The Korea Herald Special Investigation Team and social media analyst, Jelly Fish studied “big data” related to wealthy people of Korea and abroad to pinpoint our latest obsessions and how we perceive them. The team has studied articles and search terms on www.naver.com, the country’s largest portal site, as well as Twitter, Faceboo

The year 2014 has been quite an eventful one for the superrich. Their assets and rankings have changed considerably, while new billionaires have emerged and others have forfeited their entire fortunes overnight. As the status of the superrich is primarily decided by assets, numbers are the best way to gauge their achievements. To the superrich ― who in many ways control their country’s economy ― these numbers mean more than wealth. They are a reflection of their business philosophy and strategy.

Stock assets of major female superrich (won)

Public anger is rising against the lack of leadership screening at South Korea’s family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebol, in the wake of the “nut rage” incident caused by Korean Air heiress Heather Cho. “Looking at the backlash of the ‘nuts return’ scandal at Korean Air, big business circles are taking the situation more seriously and looking for lessons to be learned from it,’’ an official from a leading business association told The Korea Herald. Industry watchers said the nut scandal, cau

The game of go ― known as baduk in Korean ― is a board game where two players place black and white game stones on empty intersections or points of a board that is lined with a 19x19 grid.Unlike chess where you make your move to attack the opponent by destroying the pawns and knights to capture their king, baduk is more about surrounding a larger area of the board so that the opponent is basically hemmed in, making it impossible for him or her to make the next move. This is a game that calls for

The secret to becoming a long-surviving chief executive has become something of a buzzword in the country’s corporate world after LG Household & Health Care vice chairman Cha Suk-yong got an extension to his three-year contract fill 2017 on Nov 28.In the first half of the year, there were lingering rumors that Cha could leave the firm at the year’s end as he has already stepped down from the CEO post at the company’s flagship beauty brand The Face Shop. He also sold his shares in the firm ― 22,0

Tension is riding high in the nation’s corporate world as the majority of South Korean conglomerates are set to announce their annual personnel reshuffles this month. “Unlike previous times, Korea will see more executives in their 30s from chaebol owner families at the year-end as conglomerates seek to stabilize their corporate governance amid rising uncertainties in the local and global business environments,’’ industry sources said. The prediction was made based on the recent personnel reshuff

BUSAN ― Kohler, a U.S. supplier of high-end plumbing products, is hoping to see a 300 percent sales growth in the South Korean market next year, said Kohler Novita executive Choi Jae-kwan. “Designers of townhouses and luxury hotels are visiting our Busan showroom to use the premium Kohler products for their interiors,” Choi said during an event celebrating the launch of the company’s new toilet brand Veil. Kohler Novita executive Choi Jae-kwan (Kohler)The Wisconsin-based company, which describes

Pedestrians walk past the K11 Art Mall in Shanghai operated by New World Development, an affiliate of Chow Tai Fook owned by Cheng Yu-tung. (Bloomberg)Cheng Yu-tung, 89, who is the fifth-richest man in Hong Kong with a net worth of $15.5 billion as of this January, made headlines here when he turned his attention to Yeongjongdo Island, located in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, with the aim of developing a casino-based integrated complex.According to IFEZ, Cheng’s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises signe

To Koreans, land is more than just money, especially when you own property in highly sought-after areas. This is because owning a plot of land is not just about making money, but also about power and status.For example, Cheongdam-dong in southern Seoul is one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods. In 1967, it was still part of Gyeonggi Province, and was full of pear orchards, but it began its transformation from about 1975 into a home for the emerging superrich as high-rises and expensive ap

Skyscrapers, usually designed for office, commercial and residential use, could be called the pyramids of the 21st century.Towering above the skyline, they are clear symbols of industrialization, exhibiting integration of technology, concentration of wealth and enhancement of industry. They tell of the wealth and influence of the time in which they were built. Thus, the superrich and skyscrapers have been connected from the start. Some skyscrapers, such as the Empire State Building in New York,