Chairman Of Luxury Department Store Operator Shinsegae Enters Billionaire Ranks Amid South Korea’s Stock Surge

South Korean luxury department store operator Shinsegae has become an unlikely beneficiary of the global AI boom.

As AI data center operators race to buy memory chips, shares of Samsung and SK Hynix—the world’s two largest manufacturers of computer chips critical for feeding data to advanced AI systems—have soared, helping make South Korea the world’s best-performing major stock market this year.

Flush with this newfound wealth, a growing number of South Korean retail investors are splurging on luxury goods like those sold at Shinsegae, according to analysts. This trend has propelled Shinsegae’s shares up 220% year-to-date. The retailer has outperformed even Samsung, despite the company having no direct ties to AI. The stock surge has made Chung Yoo-kyung, the company’s chairman, a billionaire.

Chung, 53, is Shinsegae’s largest shareholder, holding a 29% stake. Forbes estimates Chung’s net worth at $1.3 billion as of Friday’s stock market close.

Alongside rivals Lotte and Hyundai, Seoul-based Shinsegae is one of South Korea’s largest department store operators. The company operates 13 department stores, including its flagship Shinsegae Gangnam—the country’s highest-earning store, which brought in nearly 3 trillion won ($2 billion) in revenue last year. The company also operates Shinsegae Centum City in Busan, recognized as the world’s largest department store with 293,905 square meters floor area (3.16 million square feet).

Shinsegae’s first-quarter revenue rose 11% year-on-year to 1.85 trillion won ($1.2 billion), while net income nearly doubled to 145 billion won. Hana Securities analyst Park Jong-dae said in a June report that Shinsegae will benefit from increased luxury spending by Kospi investors, driven by the index’s 95% year-to-date surge.

Founded as Donghwa Department Store in 1955, two years after the Korean War, the business was acquired in 1963 by Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull—Chung’s grandfather—who renamed it Shinsegae (“new world” in Korean). Shinsegae operated as a subsidiary of the Samsung Group until a 1997 family succession arrangement led to a spinoff, transferring control to Lee’s youngest daughter (and Chung’s mother), Myung-hee. In May 2025, the 82-year-old Myung-hee transferred her remaining 10% stake to Chung as part of a succession plan to divide Shinsegae Group between her two children. Chung’s older brother, Yong-jin, who is already a billionaire, received Myung-hee’s remaining shares in discount chain E-Mart.

Yoo-kyung, who assumed the role of chairman last year, was named to Forbes Asia’s Power Businesswomen list in 2025. Prior to her appointment as chairman, she oversaw various company divisions, including hotels, luxury fashion, and department stores. She holds a bachelor’s degree in visual design from Seoul’s Ewha Womans University and a master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design.

More from Forbes

ForbesMemory Chip Boom Catapults Founder Of Korean Semiconductor Equipment Maker To Billionaire RanksBy John KangForbesAI Chip Boom Propels Chairman Of Korean Circuit Board Maker Into The Billionaire RanksBy John Kang