'Self-made' individuals gain prominence among stock rich

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By Yi Whan-woo

Up to one in four stock rich individuals are retail investors, according to two separate financial institutions, suggesting the “self-made” are expanding their presence among heirs of conglomerates and others who gain their fortunes through inheritance.

FnGuide, a financial market researcher, said Sunday the number of retail investors with shares worth more than 10 billion won ($8.9 million) stood at nearly 700 last year, up from 500 in 2019.

They were a part of the 2,100 wealthiest stockholders up from 1,700 a year earlier.

The 2020 figure makes retail investors one third of the total number of wealthy stockholders.

The majority of the listed individuals are the largest shareholders of listed companies, many of them new generations of leaders from family-controlled conglomerates, as well as their immediate family members and others who “maintain special relations with the company.”

The number of self-made billionaires rose by 40 percent during the 2019-20 period, surpassing the rate of increase ― 23 percent ― among those who were beneficiaries of inherited wealth.

Fortune-building strategies varied by retail investors. Some benefitted from a dramatic rise in their stocks' value and others through public debuts of the firms they invested in.

In a separate announcement, Sunday, the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), the country's central securities depository, said a total of 2,800 individuals, up from 2,200 in 2019, held shares worth more than 10 billion won last year.

It said three quarters of the 2,800 shareholders were the largest shareholders and those with special company relationships.

Therefore the remaining quarter is made up of retail investors, KSD explained.

The 2,800 accounted for 0.03 percent of the total number of shareholders across the country, estimated to be 9.19 million.

The value of the former group's shares combined, however, was 36.5 percent of the total market value.

Inheritance is almost a foregone conclusion among many of the wealthiest people in Korea.

Large share beneficiaries also include minors, such as a grandchild of Chung Ji-wan, the chairman and CEO of semiconductor materials firm Soulbrain Holdings. Chung's granddaughter, who was born in 2013, holds shares in the firm worth 58.2 billion won, making her the nation's youngest high-value stockholder.