Suh Kyung-bae, chief of South Korea's top cosmetics maker AmorePacific Group, has become the country's richest man in stock value, overtaking former No. 1 Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, market data showed Thursday.

Stocks owned by Suh were valued at 12.8 trillion won (US$11.4 billion) as of Thursday, while Samsung's Lee held stakes worth 11.8 trillion won, according to the data compiled by corporate tracker Chaebul.com.

Suh's stock assets nearly doubled from 6.7 trillion won in the beginning of the year on the back of bullish stock prices of AmorePacific and its affiliates.

Shares of AmorePacific soared to 445,000 won on July 2 from 233,000 won on Jan. 2.

Lee Jay-yong, Samsung's heir apparent, ranked third with stock assets of 9.4 trillion won, followed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won with 4.7 trillion won and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo with 4.5 trillion won. (Yonhap)