Samsung Chairman is No Longer South Korea's Richest

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Photo: Reuters .

On April 15, Forbes announced the list of the 50 richest people in Korea in 2025. Of these, 32 members had a decrease in assets, including Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong. His assets decreased by 3.7 billion USD , to 7.8 billion USD , ranking behind the founder of MBK investment fund. Mr. Kim Byung-joo (Michael Kim), rose to the top with 9.5 billion USD .

The decline in stock prices is the main reason for the decline in the total assets of many billionaires. In December 2024, President Yoon Suk-yeol imposed a short-term curfew, causing a political crisis in South Korea. After the event, the total assets of the country's 50 richest people also dropped sharply from $115 billion to $99 billion .

Lee Jae-yong was born in Seoul in 1968 and is the son of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee. The current leader of Samsung was ranked 18th in the list of the 50 most influential people in the world published by Bloomberg in 2016. However, in recent years, his position has gradually been shaken as Samsung has lost its competitive advantage in many core areas.

List of 10 richest people in Korea in 2025. Photo: Forbes.

According to Yonhap , in a statement in March, Lee Jae-yong admitted that Samsung was entering an unprecedented difficult period. The chairman asked the leadership to "fight as if there is no way back".

According to the latest report, Samsung has been surpassed by SK Hynix in the field of artificial intelligence chips. The company's three other key segments, including TVs, smartphones and DRAM, all saw their market shares decline over the past year.

At the same time, Samsung's return on equity (ROE) has been steadily declining during Lee Jae-yong's 10 years in power. This has caused international investors to gradually withdraw. Samsung is considered an "inefficient dinosaur". Korean forums are spreading a wave of demands for Samsung to transfer power to professional executives, instead of maintaining the hereditary model.

Samsung chairman lost his position as South Korea’s richest man in 2021. Kakao founder Brian Kim overtook Lee. But the electronics giant’s leader quickly regained the title a year later.

Cho Jung-ho, chairman of Meritz Financial, was the fastest-growing person on the Forbes list. His fortune increased by $1.5 billion to $7.7 billion . The Meritz Financial leader is now ranked third, close behind the Samsung chairman. The surge comes from a record net profit of 2.3 trillion won that the company recorded in 2024, thanks to the merger of its insurance and securities units.

Source: https://znews.vn/chu-cich-samsung-khong-con-giau-nhat-han-quoc-post1546750.html