South Korea's Lee family, which controls the formidable Samsung conglomerate, topped an inaugural list of Asia's 50 richest families published Thursday by Forbes Asia magazine. The family had a net worth of $26.6 billion as of late September, with second- and third-generation members now running more than 50 businesses, the magazine said.
The Samsung empire, founded in 1938 by wealthy landowner's son Lee Byung-Chull, has diversified interests ranging from mobile phones to construction and shipbuilding. Forbes Asia said Samsung, the biggest of the "chaebol" or family-run conglomerates dominating South Korea's economy, accounted for 22 per cent of the country's gross domestic product in 2014. The second richest is the Hong Kong Chinese family, also surnamed Lee, which controls Henderson Development and boasts a fortune of $24.1 billion. The third richest are the Ambanis of India's Reliance Group with a combined net worth of $21.5 billion.
Comments
Comments are closed.