What Do Seo Kyung-bae and Koo Bon-joon Have in Common? Rabbit-Year CEOs with Stock Wealth Over 10 Billion Won

CXO Research Institute, Survey on Stock Millionaires and CEOs Born in the Year of the Rabbit
Among Stock Millionaires with Over 10 Billion Won, 38 Born in 1963 Are the Most Numerous

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] In the Year of the Rabbit 2023, how many shareholders born in the Year of the Rabbit have stock valuations exceeding 10 billion KRW among domestic listed companies? The answer is 60. Notably, over 60% of them were born in 1963. The trillion-won-level Rabbit shareholders include Seo Kyung-bae, chairman of Amorepacific, born in 1963, and Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the Asan Foundation, born in 1951. Additionally, among CEOs of the top 1,000 companies, there are about 130 born in the Year of the Rabbit, and the oldest Rabbit executive active in the business world is Kang Shin-ho, honorary chairman of Dong-A Socio Holdings, born in 1927.

According to the "Survey on Rabbit Shareholders and CEOs in Listed Companies" by Korea CXO Research Institute, a corporate analysis specialist, as of the 23rd of this month, approximately 60 Rabbit-born shareholders have stock valuations exceeding 10 billion KRW. When broken down by birth year, 38 (63.3%) were born in 1963, the largest group. Following were those born in 1975 (13), 1951 (7), and 1939 (2). Among those born in 1987, belonging to the MZ generation, there were no Rabbit shareholders with stock assets worth 10 billion KRW or more.

The Rabbit shareholder with the highest stock assets among those surveyed is Seo Kyung-bae, chairman of Amorepacific Group. Born in 1963, Seo's stock valuation as of the 23rd of this month was 2.3836 trillion KRW, the highest among Rabbit shareholders. Seo's stock valuation in Amorepacific Group stocks alone was calculated to exceed 1.5077 trillion KRW.

Alongside Seo Kyung-bae, another Rabbit shareholder with trillion-won-level stock assets is Chung Mong-joon, chairman of the Asan Foundation and head of HD Hyundai Group. Born in 1951, Chung's stock valuation as of the 23rd was estimated at 1.3594 trillion KRW. He holds 21,011,330 shares of HD Hyundai stock.

There are nine Rabbit shareholders with stock valuations between 100 billion KRW and 1 trillion KRW. Among them, four were born in 1963. These include Kim Nam-gu, chairman of Korea Investment Financial Group (664.3 billion KRW), Kim Sang-heon, vice chairman of DN Automotive (221.6 billion KRW), Lee Hyo-geun, CEO of SD Biosensor (144.7 billion KRW), and Jung Ki-ro, CEO of APS Holdings (142.4 billion KRW).

Among those born in 1951 are Koo Bon-joon, chairman of LX Group (401.2 billion KRW), Kwon Won-gang, chairman of Kyochon Group (166.9 billion KRW), and Bae Jong-sik, CEO of Woldeks (104.8 billion KRW). Koo Bon-joon holds shares in both LX Holdings and LG Corporation, while Kwon Won-gang owns shares in Kyochon F&B.

Among those born in 1939, Kang Byung-jung, chairman of Nexen Group, was found to have stock assets exceeding 100 billion KRW (148.4 billion KRW). Kang holds shares in both Nexen Tire and Nexen, and also serves as a registered executive in both companies. Among those born in 1975, Kim Nam-ho, chairman of DB Group, was listed with stock assets of 463.1 billion KRW. Kim is the eldest son of DB Group founder Kim Joon-ki and holds shares in DB Insurance, DB Corporation, and DB Financial Investment, with a combined stock value exceeding 400 billion KRW.

The largest group is those born in 1963, numbering 33. Among them, CEOs with stock assets exceeding 50 billion KRW include Oh Se-young, CEO of LVMH Holdings (94.7 billion KRW), Choi Jae-won, senior vice chairman of SK (88.6 billion KRW), Kim Cheol-ho, CEO of TSE (72.3 billion KRW), Lee Ki-hyung, chairman of Gradient (69.5 billion KRW), Park Sung-chan, chairman of Danal (63.3 billion KRW), Lee Kyung-ha, chairman of JW Holdings (62.5 billion KRW), Han Jae-dong, chairman of Taewoong Logics (59.8 billion KRW), and Yoon Jung-hwa, largest shareholder of Chris F&C (53.0 billion KRW).

Among female Rabbit shareholders with stock valuations exceeding 10 billion KRW are Lee Ji-sun, CEO of Shinsung ENG, born in 1975 (27.4 billion KRW), and Kim Ok-joo, CEO of SY, also born in 1975 (10.7 billion KRW), drawing attention.

Among the top 1,000 listed companies by sales, there were 1,350 CEOs holding the title as of this year's semi-annual report. Of these, 131 were Rabbit-born CEOs, accounting for 9.7% of the surveyed top 1,000 company CEOs.

Among the top 1,000 company CEOs, those born in 1963 were overwhelmingly the majority with 103 (78.6%). Following were those born in 1975 (15), 1951 (8), and 1939 (5).

Notable CEOs born in 1963 include ▲ Kyung Kye-hyun, president of Samsung Electronics ▲ Park Jung-ho, vice chairman of SK Hynix ▲ Choi Jun-young, CEO of Kia ▲ Jang Seok-hoon, president of Samsung Securities ▲ Baek Jung-wan, CEO of Daewoo Construction ▲ Cheon Jeong-sik, CEO of E1 ▲ Jung Sung-kwon, CEO of Asiana Airlines ▲ Kang Kye-woong, CEO of LX Hausys ▲ Jang Dong-hyun, vice chairman of SK ▲ Hong Eun-taek, CEO of Kakao.

Among those born in 1939 are Son Kyung-sik, chairman of CJ CheilJedang and concurrently chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, and Choi Sam-gyu, chairman of Ewha Gongyoung, who are top executives born in the Year of the Rabbit. Among those born in 1951 are ▲ Son Yeon-ho, chairman of Kyungdong Navien ▲ Kwon Oh-gap, chairman of HD Hyundai ▲ Ha Hee-jo, CEO of Tobis. Among those born in 1975 are ▲ Heo Jun-hong, president of Samyang Trading ▲ Jeon Seung-ho, president of Daewoong Pharmaceutical ▲ Jang Sun-woo, CEO of Geukdong Yuhwa.

The oldest Rabbit-born executive currently active in the domestic business world is Kang Shin-ho, honorary chairman of Dong-A Socio Holdings. According to the third-quarter report this year, Kang, born in May 1927, has been employed for over 63 years.

Oh Il-seon, director of Korea CXO Research Institute, said, "From a management perspective, those born in the Year of the Rabbit are talented leaders with the four qualities of attentive listening, affinity, wisdom, and speed." He added, "Although the economy is expected to be somewhat gloomy in 2023, Rabbit-born CEOs, who excel in strategy and quick thinking, are expected to wisely navigate through management difficulties."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.