H
e once styled himself the Bernie
Sanders of South Korea, but that
label hardly fits the richest man in
Korean politics. Ahn Cheol-Soo, casting him-
self as a moderate, is running for president
of South Korea in the May 9 special election
with a vision of “a new future” in “a country. . . where self-made young people abound—
not heirs who benefit from everything.”
If that sounds like a populist call for
reform, it’s not because Ahn is antibusiness.
Armed with a medical degree from Seoul Na-
tional University, he founded AhnLab in 1995
and made a fortune with an anti-computer-
virus software program. A decade later, he
resigned as chief executive, got an M.B.A.
from Wharton and then became a professor
and later a dean of convergence science and
technology at his alma mater before leaving
academia and diving into politics.
AhnLab’s stock soared in March as Ahn’s
campaign gathered steam and ahead of the
company’s announcement that net profits
jumped 26% in 2016. That doubled the
value of his 18.6% stake to $245 million. But
that’s still well short of the cutoff for break-
ing into the country’s 50 richest.
Ahn’s candidacy is the latest twist in a
drama touched off by the scandal that led to
President Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment
and arrest. Corruption charges put her and
30 others, including Samsung heir Jay Y.
Lee (see p. 70), behind bars. They deny the
charges.
Ahn’s People’s Party broke away from
the main opposition Minjoo, or Democratic,
Party, winning 38 seats in the National As-
sembly a year ago. His bloc joined the over-
whelming majority of the assembly’s 300
members in voting for Park’s impeachment
in December, and since then Ahn has been
challenging the Minjoo candidate, Moon
Jae-In, for the Blue House.
Making his second run for president,
Ahn, 55, still trails Moon in the polls but is
ahead of the conservative candidate. At his
party’s nominating convention last month,
his plea was simple: “This country doesn’t
belong to progressives or conservatives,” he
shouted. “It belongs to the people. I won’t
ask you to help me. I will be the one to help
you.” —Donald KirkRising Star
Ahn Cheol-Soo, the richest man in Korean politics.A BUSINESSMAN RUNS FOR PRESIDENTFOR METHODOLOGY AND ALL BIOS, GO TO FORBES.COM/KOREA.YONHAP NEWS/NEWSCOM
39
LEE HWA-KYUNG
$970 MILLION T
ORION AGE: 61
40
KOO BON-SIK
$960 MILLION S
HEESUNG & LG AGE: 58
41
BOM KIM
$950 MILLION
COUPANG AGE: 38
42
LEE JOON-HO
$930 MILLION
NAVER & NHN ENTERTAINMENT
AGE: 52
43
LEE HO-JIN
$920 MILLION T
TAEKWANG INDUSTRIAL
AGE: 54
44
LEE SANG-IL
$910 MILLION S
ILJIN AGE: 78
45
KOO BON-JOON
$900 MILLION
LG GROUP AGE: 65
46
CHO HYUN-JOON
$890 MILLION S
HYOSUNG AGE: 49
47
HAM YOUNG-JOON
$725 MILLION Ì
OTTOGI AGE: 58
48
KOO KWANG-MO
$720 MILLION 3
LG GROUP AGE: 39
49
CHO HYUN-SANG
$700 MILLION Ì
HYOSUNG AGE: 45
50
KWON HYUK-WOON
$670 MILLION 3
IS DONGSEO AGE: 66THE LIST
SUP MORE THAN 10% TDOWN MORE THAN 10%
ÌNEW TO LIST 3 RETURNEE