The value of stocks held by South Korea’s leading families who control large business groups or chaebol surged this year, a report by a corporate research firm showed Thursday.

According to Chaebul.com, the value of shares owned by Lee Kun-hee and his immediate family, who control Samsung Group, the country’s largest conglomerate, stood at 26.06 trillion won ($23.64 billion), up 94.5 percent from 13.44 trillion won tallied as of Jan. 2 of this year.

The increase came mainly as affiliates of the group, such as Samsung SDS and Cheil Industries Inc., were listed on the stock exchange, causing value of shares to soar.

The listing of the two companies caused shares owned by Lee Jay-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. and heir apparent to the business empire, as well as those of his two younger sisters to surge in value from 1.1 trillion won to 12.28 trillion won.

Lee Jay-yong, the only son of Lee Kun-hee, now controls shares worth 7.79 trillion won, while his two sisters, Boo-jin and Seo-hyun, each own 2.24 trillion won worth of shares. (Yonhap)