Korea's major stock-rich billionaires have suffered huge valuation losses since early May in the wake of the simmering eurozone fiscal crisis, data showed Thursday.
The combined value of shares owned by the country's top 100 stock-rich people reached 64.31 trillion won ($55.8 billion) as of Wednesday, down 8.8 percent from May 2, according to the data compiled by conglomerate tracker Chaebol.com.
Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. and South Korea's richest man, saw the value of his share holdings drop 13.4 percent to 9.81 trillion won from 11.34 trillion won over the cited period.
Lee lost a daily average of 26 billion won since May 2, when shares of tech behemoth Samsung Electronics hit an all-time high of 1,418,000 won on the main bourse. The stock closed at 1,167,000 won on Wednesday.
The value of shares owned by Lee Jae-yong, the only son of the Samsung Electronics chairman and his heir apparent, also fell 17 percent over the same period, reaching 980.8 billion won and falling below the 1 trillion won mark.
The stock market slump has also put a dent in the value of shares held by most other business moguls.
Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo saw his stock value decline to 6.64 trillion won from 7.41 trillion won over the cited period.
Chung Mong-joon, the biggest shareholder of South Korea's leading shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., held shares worth 1.97 trillion won as of Wednesday, down 11 percent from May 2, according to the data. (Yonhap)