Third Quarter Sees 18 Trillion Won Wiped Out from Conglomerate Chiefs' Stock Assets... 17.5 Trillion Lost by Top Three Alone

Korea CXO Institute Survey of 48 Major Groups
Stock Assets of Lee Jae-yong, Chey Tae-won, and Euisun Chung Plunge
Kim Jun-ki, DB Group Founder, Newly Joins “1 Trillion Won Club”

The total stock wealth of the heads of Korea's 48 major conglomerates saw a sharp decline of over 18 trillion won in the third quarter of this year. The substantial drop in the stock valuation of the heads of Korea’s top three groups—Samsung, SK, and Hyundai Motor—led the overall decrease in assets.

According to the "2026 Q3 Changes in Stock Valuation of Major Group Chiefs" report released by Korea CXO Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, on October 6, the combined stock wealth of the 48 conglomerate heads with stock valuations exceeding 100 billion won dropped from 134.0199 trillion won at the end of June to 115.4423 trillion won at the end of September, shrinking by 18.5776 trillion won (-13.9%) over three months.

Among the 48 group heads surveyed, 25 experienced an increase in stock value, while 23 saw a decline. However, the total decline among those with losses (22.0042 trillion won) overwhelmingly surpassed the increase among gainers (3.4267 trillion won), resulting in an overall decrease in stock asset scale.

In particular, the losses of the heads of the nation’s three largest conglomerates proved critical. Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics and the wealthiest stockholder in Korea, saw his stock valuation fall from 59.1878 trillion won to 45.9894 trillion won in three months—a decrease of 13.1984 trillion won (-22.3%)—because of share price declines in Samsung Electronics (-19.6%) and Samsung C&T (-27.1%). Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, also saw his holdings fall from 10.8259 trillion won to 7.6397 trillion won, a decrease of 3.1862 trillion won (-29.4%). Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group, lost 1.1813 trillion won (-15.2%), with his stock value dropping from 7.7577 trillion won to 6.5764 trillion won. Together, these three conglomerate leaders saw a total of 17.5659 trillion won in stock assets evaporate in the third quarter alone.

Even amidst a sluggish environment, some conglomerate heads were able to significantly grow their stock wealth thanks to individual positive factors and an increase in shareholdings. GS Group Honorary Chairman Hur Chang-su ranked first in growth rate, as his stock valuation jumped 53.6% from 415.8 billion won to 638.5 billion won, driven by the surges in GS Holdings (+61.7%) and GS Engineering & Construction (+35.3%) share prices. Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, increased his Celltrion shareholdings by about 6%, which pushed his stock wealth from 11.8944 trillion won to 12.9316 trillion won—a rise of 1.0372 trillion won (+8.7%)—making him number one in absolute increase of stock assets.

As of the end of September, there were 17 group leaders in the "1 trillion won stock wealth club," one more than in the previous quarter. DB Group founder and Chairman Kim Joon-ki (1.0808 trillion won) joined the club for the first time this year, propelled by a 38.2% increase in DB Insurance’s share price. Lee Jae-yong (45.9894 trillion won), Seo Jung-jin (12.9316 trillion won), Chey Tae-won (7.6397 trillion won), Euisun Chung (6.5764 trillion won), and Cho Hyun-joon, Chairman of Hyosung (4.0833 trillion won), formed the top five.

O Il-sun, head of Korea CXO Institute, analyzed, "While some sectors such as holding companies, insurance, and petrochemicals performed well in the third quarter, major industries including semiconductors, automobiles, distribution, and food struggled, resulting in mixed fortunes for each conglomerate head. This trend of asset restructuring driven by share price movements and equity changes is expected to continue into the fourth quarter."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.