Self-made flex muscles
19 self-made men break into list of top 100 rich and young
By Kwaak Je-yup
Self-made men are gaining ground on chaebol heirs in comparative stock fortunes.
Though the list is still largely dominated by second- and third-generation chaebol offspring, a record-breaking 19 entrepreneurs made the latest top 100 list of the wealthiest people published by Chaebul.com, a website following chaebol and other corporate affairs.
It almost doubles last year’s figure of 10 and the highest number yet. All the self-made entrepreneurs have a shared history of founding the companies during the mid-90s _ while in their 20s. They were catapulted to fame and fortune in just a decade and they are showing no signs of stopping.
The success of video gaming, internet searches and other entertainment start-ups consequently resulting in stellar stock performances shows that leisure continues to establish itself as a major industry in Korea.
Chaebul.com compiled the list based solely on the values of the shares they own in their own companies at the end of trading last Thursday. No other assets were counted.
Kim Jung-ju, 43, CEO of NXC, a holding company of the country’s largest video game publisher and developer Nexon, was ranked No. 2, first among the self-made list, with 2 trillion won. The value of his company shares jumped dramatically after listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange last month. It was the biggest IPO (initial public offering) in Japan last year, raising more than $1.2 billion. With the addition of the shares that his wife owns in the company, valued at 876.2 billion won and ranking her at No. 6, the total worth of the couple in stocks were 2.89 trillion won.
Multiplayer online video gaming proved to be a fast track to reach billionaire status, as several of Kim’s industry competitors also made the list. They included Kim Taek-jin “T.J.,” 44, president of NCSoft, ranked third with 1.66 trillion won, Park Kwan-ho, 39, CEO of Wemade Entertainment, ranked 18th with 342.5 billion won, Kim Byung-kwan, 38, CEO of Webzen, ranked 33rd with 150.6 billion won, Na Sung-kyun, 40, CEO of Neowiz, ranked 35th with 141.2 billion won and finally Song Byung-joon, 35, CEO of Gamevil and the youngest entrepreneur in the Top 100, ranked 40th with 128.6 billion won.
Other rags-to-riches men on the list had a variety of professional histories, ranging from internet search engines to K-pop and simulated golf.
The search rivals NHN, parent of Naver, and Daum Communications both placed their founders highly. The former’s chairman Lee Hae-jin, 44, with 471.6 billion won, and the latter’s former CEO Lee Jae-woong, 43, with 250.6 billion, were ranked in 12th and 21st places, respectively.
Yang Hyun-suk, 41, of YG Entertainment, found himself on the list for the first time after a successful IPO last year, his stock now worth 131.4 billion won. He was ranked 38th.
Kim Won-il, 36, who co-founded virtual reality “screen golf” company Golfzon with his father Kim Young-chan, 64, back in 2000, now sits comfortably at No. 19 with shares valued at 261.6 billion won.
The other 81 on list, chaebol children, were led by vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Chung Eui-sun, 41, who is the only son of the company’s chairman and CEO Chung Mong-koo. The junior Chung topped the list with 2.77 trillion won.