The chief of Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s top market cap, is the wealthiest share holder in South Korea with his value of stock holdings soaring 22 percent through Friday this year, data showed Tuesday.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee held 10.8 trillion won ($9.7 billion) worth of shares as of Friday, up 1.97 trillion won from Jan.2, according to the data compiled by Chaebul.com, which provides information on conglomerates.

The business mogul’s stock holdings include a 3.38 percent stake in Samsung Electronics, the biggest firm by market capitalization, whose share price jumped 24.6 percent over the cited period, the data showed.

The chairman’s wife, Hong Ra-hee, the director of the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, also made the country’s top 10 stock-rich billionaire list for the first time with her value of stock holdings estimated at 1.4 trillion won, the Web site added.

Shares held by Lee’s family members amounted to 13.4 trillion won, with the chairman’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong holding 1.1 trillion won worth of local shares, Chaebul.com said.

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo ranked second with the value of his stock holdings rising to 7.34 trillion won from 6.5 trillion won over the cited period.

Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, saw his stock value sink 17.8 percent during the period, however, as he was indicted for embezzling a massive amount of company funds, the data showed. He went to the sixth spot, down two notches over the cited period.

Meanwhile, Yang Hyun-suk, head of YG Entertainment, became the richest entertainment tycoon with his shares valued at 340.2 billion won, helped by “Gangnam Style,” a song by South Korean rapper and YouTube sensation Psy, which jumped to second place on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart Wednesday. 

(Yonhap News)