| BTS (Big Hit Music) |
A new generation of Korean startup founders who took their companies public since 2020 are sitting on a combined 22.48 trillion won ($15.8 billion) in stock wealth, a sign of how the country’s fast-rising entrepreneurs are redrawing a corporate rich list long dominated by old-money chaebol families.
Topping the ranks is Bang Si-hyuk, chairperson of Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind global phenomenon BTS.
His 31.6 percent stake in Hybe was valued at 3.5 trillion won as of end-September, according to data released Wednesday by market tracker CEO Score, accounting for about 15.6 percent of the total equity held by the top 100 founders surveyed.
APR founder and CEO Kim Byung-hoon came in second with 2.99 trillion won, followed by game developer Krafton’s founder Chang Byung-gyu at 2.01 trillion won.
APR, which was started in 2014 with just 50 million won in capital, has grown into a 9.36 trillion won beauty empire behind popular brands like Medicube.
Rounding out the top five were Park Dong-suk, the CEO of electrical transformer manufacturer Sanil Electric with 1.21 trillion won, and Kim Hyun-tae, the CEO of biotech firm Voronoi with 1.08 trillion won.
The ranking was based on closing stock prices at the end of September and includes founders whose companies have gone public since 2020. Entrepreneurs who inherited their companies or stakes were excluded.
By industry, semiconductors produced the most new stock tycoons with 16 founders, followed by eight in artificial intelligence and cosmetics each, seven in robotics and six in secondary batteries.
The top 10 included three entrepreneurs each from the cosmetics and service sectors. The cosmetics group included APR’s Kim, d'Alba Global's Ban Seong-yeon and Silicon 2 CEO Kim Sung-woon, while leaders in the services sector featured Hybe’s Bang, Krafton’s Chang and online game developer Shift Up CEO Kim Hyung-tae.
Only two women — Park So-yeon, chair of Prestige BioPharma, and Kim Ju-hee, CEO of Inventage Lab — appeared in the top 100.
| Medicube's beauty device AGE-R Booster Pro (left) and PDRN serum (APR) |
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