Who Is the Richest Stockholder in the Gaming Industry? [Buaeri's Game Dictionary]

Bang Jun-hyuk, Chairman of Netmarble and Coway

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Bang Jun-hyuk, chairman of Netmarble and Coway, has risen to the top spot as the richest stockholder among game industry leaders.

According to CEO Score, a corporate evaluation site, on the 2nd, an investigation of 22,213 people holding stocks in domestic listed companies (as of the closing price on the 29th of last month) revealed that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's stock holdings were valued at 9.07 trillion KRW, making him the richest stockholder overall.

Among game industry leaders, Chairman Bang ranked 9th overall with stock holdings valued at 2.61 trillion KRW, the highest rank among game industry representatives. Kim Taek-jin, CEO of NCSoft, ranked 10th with stock holdings worth 2.39 trillion KRW. Following him, Kim Dae-il, chairman of Pearl Abyss, ranked 16th with 1.28 trillion KRW.

Kim Byung-kwan, former Democratic Party lawmaker and largest shareholder of Webzen, ranked 73rd with 373.3 billion KRW. Namgoong Hoon, CEO of Kakao Games, also joined the ranks of wealthy stockholders. Since Kakao Games was listed in September last year, Namgoong's stock holdings have been valued at 111.8 billion KRW, ranking 283rd overall. Jung Wook, CEO of Neptune, newly entered the top 500 stockholders at 499th place, with stock holdings valued at 65.2 billion KRW.

Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao

The rise of portal company leaders is also notable. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, IT-related stocks surged. Kim Beom-su, chairman of Kakao, saw his stock holdings increase by more than 2.9 trillion KRW compared to a year ago, reaching 4.81 trillion KRW and ranking 3rd. Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) of Naver, also saw his stock value rise by about 600 billion KRW to 1.75 trillion KRW, ranking 15th.

Meanwhile, the stockholder rankings are expected to fluctuate again once the inheritance of the Samsung family’s assets is finalized. If inherited according to legal shares, Vice Chairman Lee’s stock value will increase to 14.31 trillion KRW. Former Leeum Director Hong Ra-hee’s inherited stock value will be 12.10 trillion KRW, ranking 2nd, while Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, director of Samsung Welfare Foundation, will each increase to 7.21 trillion KRW, moving up from joint 12th to joint 3rd place.