The family members in control of the Samsung empire have earned nearly 6 trillion won ($5.6 million) in stock value increases this year, despite a series of unfortunate events that suspended the planned generational transfer of power.

Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee saw his stock value rise by nearly 4 trillion won this year, due to a stock rally the tech giant continued throughout the year, CEOScore, a local corporate tracker, said in its report released Wednesday.

Though Lee has been hospitalized since May 2014 after suffering from a heart attack, he was found to hold 18.1 trillion won worth of stocks as of Friday, up 3.9 trillion won from a year earlier. The ailing chairman holds 4 percent in Samsung Electronics and 20 percent in Samsung Insurance. 

Shares of Samsung Electronics surged around 30 percent this year.
Lee is the only Korean who holds stocks valued at more than 10 trillion won, the report said. 


His son Lee Jae-yong ranked third in terms of stock asset value with 7.57 trillion won, a 13 percent increase from last year.

The chairman’s wife Hong Ra-hee was the eighth richest in stock asset value, with 2.7 trillion won, a 37.7 percent rise this year. Their two daughters, Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T, both saw share value rising by 151 billion won each.

Tycoons at South Korea’s other conglomerates also enjoyed noticeable stock value increases. CEOScore said the nation’s top 500 stock rich people held a combined 159.1 trillion won worth of shares as of Friday’s closing price, a 28 percent increase from earlier this year. The stock value growth rate was higher than that of the Kospi’s growth of 20.5 percent, it added.

Seo Kyung-bae, chairman of cosmetic giant Amorepacific, was the second-richest man with stocks worth 8.9 trillion won. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo ranked fourth, followed by Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin, known as a self-made millionaire, with 4.75 and 4.74 trillion won, respectively.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)