Forbes Asia - June 2018

South Korea’s 50 Richest

BY GRACE CHUNG AND FORBES KOREA

Peace Dividend?

North and South are still just talking, but

tycoons already see their fortunes soaring.

THE PRESIDENTIAL BLUE HOUSE /HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

S

outh Korea’s new

president, Moon Jae-In,

championed diplomacy

with the North and in

April met with North

Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at

the border in a historic summit.

Kim will take part in an even more

historic summit this month, if his

meeting with U.S. President Don-

ald Trump on June 12 in Singapore

takes place as planned. Yes, it’s

been a big year for the two Koreas.

he upbeat diplomatic news

and the easing of tensions be-

tween North and South certainly

helped South Korea’s businesses

and markets. he benchmark

Kospi rose 15% in the 13 months since our last ranking of the

country’s richest. he technology-heavy Kosdaq climbed 40%.

hat helped produce a record crop of billionaires—there are

now 45 in the country, up from 38 on our previous list. Only 12

fortunes fell. Four tycoons made the list for the irst time, and 2

returned to the top 50 ater falling of.

Biopharmaceutical entrepreneur Seo Jung-Jin is this year’s

biggest gainer; he added a staggering $9.1 billion to his fortune,

or 478%, and catapulted to the No. 2 spot. Celltrion Healthcare,

a marketing subsidiary of Seo’s Celltrion, launched an initial

public ofering last July and now boasts a market capitaliza-

tion of $13 billion. Meanwhile, Celltrion switched the trading

in its shares from the Kosdaq to the main board of the Korea

Exchange, putting it in the Kospi, and three of its biosimilar

drugs, Truxima, Herzuma and Remsima, expanded their mar-

ket share; the drugs treat lymphoma, breast cancer, arthritis

and Crohn’s disease. he stock has tripled in 13 months.

Two gaming entrepreneurs also enjoyed a robust year (see

pp. 72 and 75). No. 5 Kim Jung-Ju of Nexon was up 137%.

Ater being cleared of charges of bribing a prosecutor who

was a close friend from college, Kim last month pledged to

donate $93 million of his wealth to fund startups and children’s

hospitals. He also vowed that his children will not inherit his

stake in the company. No. 9 Bang Jun-Hyuk of mobile-gaming

outit Netmarble climbed 103%. It went public in May 2017

and raised $2.3 billion.

he four newcomers to the list are No. 11 Park Yeon-Cha

of Taekwang Industrial, a major supplier to Nike (see p. 76); No.

36 Kenny Park of handbag maker Simone (see p. 66); gaming

tycoon Kim Dae-Il at No. 42 (see p. 75) and No. 49 Lee Sang-

Rok. Lee makes his debut ater selling his shares in cosmetics

company Carver Korea, best known for its AHC skincare line. In

a deal worth $2.7 billion, Unilever now owns 95.4%.

he biggest loser was gaming magnate Kwon Hyuk-Bin

(No. 8) of Smilegate, who shed 29.5% of his fortune as sales of

the privately held company’s biggest game, Crossire, fell (see p.

72). Notable dropofs include Koo Bon-Moo of LG, who died

last month, and his son, Koo Kwang-Mo (see p. 77); and Cho

Chang-Gul of furniture maker Hanssem, whose shares plunged

53% as a drop in home sales hurt revenue.

Net worths are based on stock prices and exchange rates as

of the close of markets on May 25.

Kim Jong-Un and his top lieutenant, left, after meeting with Moon Jae-In at the border in late May.

70 | FORBES ASIA JUNE 2018