LG exec tops stock wealth list

An LG executive has been named the wealthiest man in corporate Korea in terms of stock holdings.

LG Household & Health Care’s CEO Cha Suk was worth 16.34 billion won ($15.41 million) thanks to his stock riches, as he held 33,800 shares of LG Household & Health Care worth 483,500 won each as of Aug. 1.

Thanks to his stockpile, Cha easily topped the list of executives at the country’s 100 largest listed companies when excluding the owner families.

At second place was Seol Young-heung, Hyundai Motor’s vice chairman who held about 11.7 billion won worth of Hyundai Motor stocks.

The data on the stock riches of the country’s top executives was compiled by the Korea Chief X Officer institute, which conducted the study based on stock value as of Aug. 1.

The stocks counted were those reported to the Financial Supervisory Service.

Most of the executives earned greater riches this year when their stocks soared on stellar business performances.

At third place in the survey was Kim Seung-soo, vice president of CJ CheilJedang, who held 11.6 billion won worth of company stocks.

Next in line was Samsung Engineering’s executive vice president Kang Seong-young who was worth 11.5 billion won.

Another Samsung executive ― vice president Lee Sun-jong placed fifth with 10.4 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics stocks.

Doosan and Shinsegae executives were among those ranking between sixth and 10th wealthiest, along with LG Chem Vice Chairman Kim Ban-suk.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and CEO Choi Gee-sung ranked at 8th place with 8.7 billion won worth of company shares.

While the Samsung executives failed to garner the top slots in the latest survey, Samsung Electronics employees ― both incumbent and former workers ― were found to hold the largest amount of company stocks in the 100 listed firms.

In total, they held about 280 billion won worth of Samsung Electronics stocks.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)