[THE INVESTOR] The stock assets of Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong fell by the biggest decline this year among those owned by South Korea's 50 richest people, according to Seoul-based corporate tracker Chaebul.com.
 

Lee‘s stock assets were worth 6.39 trillion won as of this month, down about 20 percent from 7.61 trillion won in January, said the industry tracker on July 9.

It attributed the decline to the lackluster performance of major Samsung affiliates.

The stock assets of Lee’s two sisters -- Boo-jin, CEO of Hotel Shilla and Seo-hyeon, CEO of Samsung C&T -- also slipped during the same period.

The wealth lost by these three siblings was estimated at 2.17 trillion won, accounting for 82 percent of the total decline of the group, Chaebul.com said.

In contrast, their father Lee Kun-hee‘s net asset value grew 710.5 billion won, or 6.3 percent. He remained South Korea‘s richest person in terms of stock assets. His son Jae-yong is the third-richest.

Combined, the equity value of the 50 wealthiest people stood at 151.43 trillion won (US$130.88 billion) as of July 8, down 2.65 trillion won from Jan. 4, said Chaebul.com.

AmorePacific Group chairman Suh Kyung-bae’s stock assets rose by the largest margin during this period, increasing 8 percent to 10.15 trillion won from 781.2 billion won.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)