The heads of S. Korea's top 10 conglomerates have turned out to hold, on average, a quarter of a percent of the shares in their groups’ affiliates.
One out of every two holds less than 1%. With shares owned by their immediate family members combined, they still owned a meager 0.49 percent of their business empires on average.
The heads of Korea's top 10 conglomerates, i.e. Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte, GS, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanjin, Hanwha and Doosan, control their companies with just a handful of shares (an average of 0.25 percent), according to data compiled by conglomerate tracker Chaebul-dot-com on August 6.
With all the shares owned by their immediate family members factored in, they still own 0.49 percent. With shares owned by their close relatives combined, they own 0.73 percent of the shares in their groups’ affiliates.
By conglomerate, the stock ownership of Doosan Group Chairman Park Yong-gon finished last with virtually no stake (0.00 percent). Park and his immediate family members owned a paltry 0.03 percent on average.
Controversial tycoon Shin Kyuk-ho, chief of Lotte Group, finished second with 0.05 percent. The stock ownership of Shin and his immediate family members, including Lotte Foundation Chairman Shin Young-ja, Shin Dong-joo (former vice chairman of Lotte Holdings in Japan) and Lotte Group Korea chairman Shin Dong-bin, was a mere 1.94 percent. Koo Bon-moo, chairman of LG Group, held a puny 0.07 percent.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won held 0.51 percent while Chung Mong-jun, chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries, owned 0.76 percent. Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee came out on top with 2.24 percent. The Lee family owned 5.16 percent, the highest among chaebol families.
Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo finished second with 1.89 percent. Cho Yang-ho (chairman of Hanjin Group) held 1.78 percent, GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo 1.25 percent, Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn 1.12 percent. The family of Chung Mong-jun owned 0.76 percent, that of Koo Bon-moo 0.13 percent and that of Chey Tae-won 0.51 percent.
The Kim Seung-youn family owned 1.90 percent while the Huh family held 1.36 percent. Among chaebol families, the Chung family, including Chung Mong-Koo (chairman of Hyundai Motor) and his son Chung Eui-sun (vice chairman of Hyundai Motor) ranked second with 3.60 percent.
The Cho Yang-ho family owned 2.57 percent.
