LG Household & Healthcare executive richest ‘non-owner’

LG Household and Healthcare vice chairman Cha Suk-yong is the wealthiest executive who is not a member of a conglomerate family among the top 100 companies in Korea, data showed on Thursday.

Cha topped the list with around 25.2 billion won ($22.4 million) in stock assets, overtaking Koo Hak-seo, chairman of Shinsegae Group, who topped the list last year, according to Korea CXO Institute, which collects data on major corporations.

The vice chairman’s assets jumped 7.55 billion won in just a year and a half as Cha increased his share of both ordinary and preferred shares. A surge in stock prices also helped catapult the executive to the top slot.

Among foreign executives, James Bemowski, vice chairman of Doosan Corp., was the richest with 3.12 billion won in stocks.

The survey was conducted on more than 3,400 “non-owner” families at the largest 100 companies listed on the stock market.

Shinsegae chairman Koo’s worth plummeted after the value of his E-Mart and Shinsegae stocks fell, CXO said.

Besides Cha and Koo, Hyundai Motor vice chairman Seol Young-heung was among executives who owned over 10 billion won worth of stocks.

Seol owns up to 10.7 billion worth of Hyundai stocks, which reflected a small decrease from the 11 billion won he recorded last year.

Broken down by company, the richest executives mostly belonged to Samsung. A total of 78 Samsung Group executives were on the list including vice chairmen Choi Jee-sung and Kwon Oh-hyun, followed by 13 from Hyundai Motor Group and seven from S-Oil.

KT Corp. chairman Lee Seok-chae was also on the list, along with KT&G CEO Min Young-jin.

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