Located amid lush fields and green trees in the city of Concord, New Hampshire, St Paul’s School is highly coveted in the United States and also a chaebol favorite.

With 160 years of tradition, it boasts notable alumni including members of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, Nobel laureates and current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

In the hopes of honing the talents of their children and developing influential connections, superrich families from all across the world have honed in on the school.

The Korean superrich no doubt desire the same top-notch education for their children, and eminent third-generation owners of family-owned conglomerates have flocked to the most expensive private college-preparatory school in the U.S., with St. Paul’s charging a yearly tuition fee of $57,985.

Leaving Korea in 1983 to study at St. Paul’s, Cho Hyun-joon, son of Hyosung Group chairman Cho Suck-rai and now president of Hyosung, actively took part in the school baseball team, later becoming its first Asian captain. He graduated in 1987 and continued his studies at Yale. 

Maintaining ties with his school, Cho Hyun-joon became a board member of St. Paul’s in 2008 and has since donated $200,000 to it every year, totaling over $1 million.

As expected, the school board of trustees consists of distinguished figures including former Barclays America chairman Archibald Cox Jr. and famed author Janice Y.K. Lee, allowing Cho Hyun-joon to maintain global connections.

Moreover, by leading the Korean alumni association of St. Paul’s, he is also able to strengthen his local network.

The local St. Paul’s alumni reunion at a Seoul hotel in 2013 was attended by key figures including Cho Hyun-joon, veteran female politician Na Kyung-won, Hansol Group chairman Cho Dong-gil, and Hanwha Group executive director Kim Dong-kwan.

Of the Korean alumni, Cho Hyun-joon and Hanwha Group’s Kim Dong-kwan have much in common.

Both are third-generation chaebol owners and the eldest of three brothers. Cho Hyun-joon is the eldest son of Hyosung Group chairman Cho Suck-rai, and Kim Dong-kwan is the eldest son of Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn. Both are also heir apparent.

The two joined the conglomerates when they were in their late 20s – Cho Hyun-joon at 29 and Kim Dong-kwan at 27 -- and currently are respective heads of the core businesses of electric power and solar energy.

They also studied at Ivy League institutions -- Yale and Harvard respectively -- and interestingly studied politics, an unpopular major among third-generation chaebol owners.

Cho Hyun-joon is currently leading Hyosung Group in place of his father who suffers from cancer. After finishing his masters in politics at Keio University in Japan and gaining working experience at Mitsubishi and Morgan Stanley, he joined Hyosung in 1997.

As the conglomerate’s largest individual shareholder, Cho Hyun-joon owns a 12.69 percent stake while chairman Cho Suck-rai owns a 10.15 percent stake. The chairman’s youngest son and Hyosung vice president Cho Hyun-sang owns 11.73 percent

Meanwhile, the chairman’s second son and former vice president of Hyosung Cho Hyun-moon sold his and his son’s entire company stake of 7.18 percent through Goldman Sachs in 2013.

Kim Dong-kwan is currently head of Hanwha Q Cell, an affiliate tasked with Hanwha’s future growth industry. After graduating from Harvard, he completed his mandatory military service as an interpreter officer for three years and four months and joined the company in 2010.

He holds 4.41 percent of Hanwha Corp., the holding company of Hanwha Group. His brother Kim Dong-won holds 1.66 percent, while his father chairman Kim holds 22.51 percent.

Owned 100 percent by the Kim family, Hanwha’s service affiliate Hanwha S&C is 50 percent owned by the chairman and 25 percent each owned by Kim Dong-kwan and third son Kim Dong-sun.

Moreover, Hanwha S&C owns Hanwha Energy, which is the largest shareholder with a 30 percent stake in Hanwha General Chemical, which in turn holds 50 percent of Hanwha Total Petrochemical shares.

By The Korea Herald Superrich Team (seoyounglee@heraldcorp.com)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hong Seung-wan
Cheon Ye-seon
Seo Jee-yeon
Yoon Hyun-jong
Min Sang-seek
Lee Seo-young