While South Korea’s wealthiest person remains Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, the families behind some of the largest conglomerates have dropped from their rankings on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 richest people.
Hyundai Motor Group’s Mong-Koo Chung and SK Group’s Chey Tae-won, as well as cosmetic maker Amorepacific Group’s Suh Kyung-bae were among the nation’s top five wealthiest people five years ago. They’ve since lost more than $9 billion combined.
Newcomers such as Seo and tech entrepreneurs have replaced them.
Gamemaker Nexon Co.’s Kim Jung-ju has become Korea’s third-richest person with a $7.8 billion fortune, while Brian Kim, the founder of social-messaging app Kakao Corp., entered the wealth ranking for the first time this year. His company’s businesses encompass ride-hailing and payment services, and its shares have more than doubled since a March low as limited person-to-person interactions during the pandemic have increased demand for its services. He has the nation’s fifth-biggest fortune, $5.1 billion, just after Samsung Electronics’ Lee Jae-yong.
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It’s only in certain sectors like biopharma and tech that the new rich can flourish as traditional industries require huge capital to break into, according to CEOScore’s Park. That’s why inherited wealth will not go away, he added.
--With assistance from Pei Yi Mak.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.