Looking into the Top 20 Domestic Stock Millionaires in Q4... Kim Dae-il and Park Gwan-ho Increase by Over 1 Trillion Won

Game Stocks Expected to Maintain Growth Momentum

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] In the fourth quarter of this year, among the top 1 to 20 stock-rich individuals in Korea, the remarkable progress of Kim Dae-il, Chairman of Pearl Abyss, and Park Kwan-ho, Chairman of Wemade, stood out. Despite the sluggish domestic stock market trend, the value of their stocks increased by more than 1 trillion won. While the profit outlook for traditional large-cap stocks is expected to increase only slightly next year, game stocks are anticipated to continue high growth driven by expectations for new releases as well as developments in non-fungible tokens (NFT) and the metaverse (extended virtual world), maintaining investors' interest.

According to financial information company FnGuide on the 17th, as of the previous day, the total valuation of stocks held by the top 20 shareholders of listed companies in the domestic stock market was 91.3907 trillion won. This is an increase of 2.7242 trillion won (3.07%) compared to 88.6665 trillion won at the end of September. Considering that the domestic stock market showed sluggish trends during the same period, with the KOSPI down 2.03% and KOSDAQ up 0.46%, this performance is relatively strong.

During this period, the stock-rich individual whose shareholding value increased the most was Park, Chairman of Wemade, a KOSDAQ-listed game company. Park's current shareholding valuation rose by 1.3856 trillion won to 2.4241 trillion won compared to the end of September. In terms of growth rate, he ranked first among the top 20 wealthy shareholders with 133.4%. His ranking also jumped 11 places from 28th to 17th.

Wemade introduced a business model using NFTs in its new game 'Mir4.' The application of the Play-to-Earn method, which allows game items created as NFTs to be traded for money, fueled the stock price rise. This year, the highest rising stock in KOSPI and KOSDAQ was Wemade Max, Wemade’s blockchain game development subsidiary, with a 1146.98% increase. Wemade itself ranked third with a 740.15% return.

Kim, Chairman of Pearl Abyss, ranked 14th among stock-rich individuals, also saw his shareholding value rise from 1.8936 trillion won to 2.9229 trillion won, an increase of 1.0292 trillion won (54.35%). The surge in Pearl Abyss’s stock price was due to expectations for the success of the mobile game 'Black Desert' set to launch in China, the new title 'Crimson Desert,' and news of game preparations combining the metaverse and NFTs.

The progress of these gaming industry leaders is expected to continue next year as well, with game stocks anticipated to sustain performance improvements through major new releases and new business initiatives such as the metaverse and NFTs. According to FnGuide, operating profits for Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are expected to increase by only 4.3% and 2.3%, respectively, next year compared to this year. In contrast, the gaming sector is projected to grow by 97%, ranking alongside the hotel industry (713%) as sectors with significant profit growth rates compared to this year.

Other notable increases in shareholding value growth rates were seen in Cho Young-sik, Chairman of SD Biosensor (25.53%), Heo Jae-myung, President of Iljin Materials (14.42%), Kim Chang-soo, Chairman of F&F (13.65%), and Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE (11.56%).

Except for LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo (-12.26%), there were no significant changes in the shareholding values of other stock-rich individuals. Chairman Koo’s stock price declined throughout the second half of this year due to concerns over overhang (potential sell-off volume) caused by the affiliate separation issue with LX. Other top stock-rich individuals, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (-0.03%), former Samsung Museum Leeum Director Hong Ra-hee (4.77%), Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin (0.61%), Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su (1.27%), Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun (-2.31%), and Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo (-0.48%), showed shareholding value fluctuations within a range not significantly deviating from market returns.