Value of shares owned by 100 richest stockholders exceed W100tr

By a2017001

Published : Apr 30, 2017 - 10:11 Updated : Apr 30, 2017 - 10:11

The combined value of shares owned by South Korea's 100 richest stockholders surpassed 100 trillion won ($87.7 billion), swelled by rising stock markets, industry data showed Sunday.

Despite geopolitical risks surrounding North Korea, the nation's benchmark KOSPI index closed at a near six-year high last week. The index gained about 9 percent from the end of last year.

(Yonhap)

As of last Friday, the combined value of shares owned by the 100 richest stockholders stood at 100.8 trillion won, up 7.2 trillion won or 7.7 percent, compared with the value on Jan. 2 this year, according to the data by market researcher Chaebol.com.

Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. closed an all-time high last week after it announced plans to cancel its own shares worth about 49 trillion won by 2018.

The value of stocks owned by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee rose 14.7 percent to 16.3 trillion won as of last Friday.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the senior Lee, saw the value of his stocks gain 4.4 percent to 6.9 trillion won.

BGF Retail Chairman Hong Suk-jo and Shinsegae Group Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee were among the biggest gainers.

The value of stocks owned by Hong jumped 34.9 percent to 447.1 billion won, while that of the Shinsegae chairwoman rose 24.6 percent to 307.2 billion won, according to the data. (Yonhap)