People tend to hold mixed feelings toward the superrich.

While there is animosity or jealousy toward those who have so much, there is also a sense of desire to achieve what they have. The superrich provide inspiration that anyone can be economically successful if they work toward their dreams.

The Korea Herald Special Investigation Team and social media analyst Jelly Fish studied “big data” related to wealthy people in Korea and abroad to pinpoint the latest obsession ― dreams and the superrich ― and how we perceive them. The team has studied articles and search terms on www.naver.com, the country’s largest portal site, as well as Twitter, Facebook and blog posts that were published between Jan. 1 and Nov. 31, 2014. 

Those on the survey list include Daum Kakao board chairman Kim Beom-su, Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo, NCSOFT founder Kim Taek-jin, AmorePacific chairman Seo Kyung-bae, LG chairman Koo Bon-moo, Samsung vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, SK chairman Chey Tae-won, Samsung heiress and Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee and Hanwha chairman Kim Seung-youn.

Some superrich overseas who were researched include, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the late former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and UAE Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

We analyzed the superrich who have most been associated with the term “dreams.” by studying the number of times this term was searched on portal sites and social media. 


‘Man of dreams, Jack Ma’

Jack Ma, chairman of Alibaba Group, is most commonly associated with achieving one’s dreams, with “dreams” being a related search term in 324 instances.

Ma quickly rose as the richest man in China when Alibaba closed a record initial public offering last September. However, people have been more interested in his rags-to-riches story ― Ma started off as a poor English instructor receiving 89 yuan ($14.32) per month over 20 years ago.

Other related search terms related to Ma include “opportunity” (540), “success” (912), “start-up” (590), “failure” (263), “confidence” (656) and “poverty” (233), showing that he is perceived differently than the heirs of rich families or IT millionaires who happened to hit the jackpot. 


Shinsegae heir’s guide to dreams

Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group, ranked second with 246 articles mentioning him in the context of “dreams.”

However, this term is slightly different when associated with Chung, as compared to the public’s expectation for Ma. While Chung showed minor differences from the other superrich in search terms related to management, the 47-year-old son of Shinsegae chairwoman Lee Myeong-hee and nephew of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee scored high on words such as “diverse” (437), “happiness” (342), “worth” (378), “movie” (392), “culture” (981), “love” (297), “design” (420) and “humanities” (1494). 

It appears that rather than looking up to him as someone who achieved his dreams, the public regards Chung’s life, full of art and luxury alongside his two marriages ― to actress Go Hyun-jung and later to flutist Han Ji-hee ― as “dreamy.”

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo took third place with 210 cases of his name mentioned with the word “dreams.”

It may seem strange for a man in his late 70s to be associated with dreams, but this is thought to be partly due to his company’ s recent real estate acquisition. Hyundai Motor Group purchased the former site of Korean Electric Power Corporation for 10 trillion won, and Chung has expressed his desire to build a 105-story building. Apart from the skyscraper office tower, there will be a hotel, theme park and convention center on its property as well as shopping arcades.

The case trended on social media sites at the time as the public responded attentively to Chung’s “dream.” He was also highly associated with words such as “global” (307), “foundation” (586) and “culture” (341), showing that people are aware of Chung’s work and dreams of raising the brand value of Hyundai Motors ― which was considered old-fashioned ― to that of a global top-tier brand.


IT moguls and dreams

Global tech legends Bill Gates (125), Steve Jobs (113), and Mark Zuckerberg (110) scored fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. The three also scored higher on keywords such as “create,” “startup,” “challenge,” “passion,” and “begin,” as compared to Korean chaebol owners, suggesting that people are more interested in how they achieved their success.

The seventh to 10th spots went to LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo (88), Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee (58), UAE Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (56), and Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Jay-yong (48).

By Korea Herald Special Investigative Team
(sangyj@heraldcorp.com)

Kwon Nam-keun
Hong Seung-wan
Sung Yeon-jin
Bae Ji-sook
Yoon Hyun-jong
Min Sang-seek
Kim Hyun-il
Sang Youn-joo