Samsung chairman's stock holdings reach 10 bln USD

The value of stocks held by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee reached around 10 billion U.S. dollars thanks to surging prices in Samsung Electronics shares, a local information provider said Tuesday. Stocks owned by Chairman Lee, including a 3.38 percent stake in Samsung Electronics, were valued at 10.86 trillion won (9.8 billion U.S. dollars) as of last Friday, making Lee the richest stock holder in the country, according to corporate information provider Chaebol.com. The value was up 22.2 percent from Jan. 2 due to a surge in Samsung Electronics share prices that jumped 24.6 percent over the cited period along with brisk sales of Galaxy smartphone series. Lee's wife Hong Ra-hee saw her stock holdings valued at 1.46 trillion won, ranking 10th among stock-rich billionaires, while the chairman's only son Lee Jae-yong owned stocks worth 1.13 trillion won. Shares owned by Lee's family members totaled 13.44 trillion won as of Friday. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo ranked second with his holdings reaching 7.35 trillion won as of Friday, up 12.9 percent from Jan. 2. He was followed by his son and Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Chung Eui-sun, whose stock holdings amounted to 3. 4 trillion won.