Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics. Yonhap News. 

The stock wealth of Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, has surpassed 20 trillion won for the first time, driven by the boom in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors.

Korea CXO Research Institute, a corporate analysis firm, announced on the 10th that the estimated stock value of Chairman Lee reached 20.7178 trillion won based on closing prices.

Chairman Lee holds shares in seven companies: Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung SDS, Samsung E&A, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and Samsung Electronics preferred stock.

The value of these holdings started at 11.999 trillion won on January 2nd of this year, reached 14.2852 trillion won on June 4th, coinciding with the new administration's inauguration, and then surpassed 20 trillion won on the current date.

This is the first time Chairman Lee's stock wealth has exceeded 20 trillion won since he inherited shares from the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

At the time the inheritance plan for the late Chairman Lee was finalized and announced on April 30, 2021, Chairman Lee's stock value was approximately 15.6167 trillion won.

An increase in Chairman Lee's stock wealth is particularly attributed to the rise in the stock value of Samsung Electronics.

On this day, the estimated value of Samsung Electronics shares held by Chairman Lee was 9.1959 trillion won, an increase of 3.5654 trillion won (63.3%) from 5.6305 trillion won on June 4th.

The stock value of Samsung C&T also rose by 28.3% during the same period, from 5.3462 trillion won to 6.8607 trillion won, and Samsung Life Insurance also increased by 47.1%, from 2.2716 trillion won to 3.3407 trillion won.

With Chairman Lee's stock wealth soaring, there is also keen interest in whether he could surpass the late Chairman Lee's record for the highest stock valuation for an individual, which was 22.1542 trillion won (as of December 9, 2020).

Oh Il-sun, head of Korea CXO Research Institute, analyzed, "The positive stock market sentiment in South Korea since President Lee Jae-myung took office, coupled with the visit of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia's optimistic remarks on AI, have acted as complex factors contributing to the increase in stock value."

He added, "For Chairman Lee to reach the inflection point of 'surpassing his father' (勝於父) and exceed the late Chairman's stock value, the stock price per common share of Samsung Electronics would need to rise to between 110,000 and 120,000 won for that possibility to emerge."

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