Lee Jae-yong, the chief of Samsung Group / Korea Times file

Lee Jae-yong, the chief of Samsung Group, Korea's top conglomerate, remained the country's richest stockholder in the first quarter of the year despite a fall in the value of his shareholdings, a corporate tracker said Wednesday.

Stock holdings of Lee, vice chairman of global tech titan Samsung Electronics, were valued at 13.1 trillion won ($10.3 billion) as of end-March, the largest among local conglomerate owners, according to the Korea CXO Institute.

The value of his stock holdings was down from 14.2 trillion won at the start of the year.

Lee was followed by Kim Beom-su, founder and chief of Kakao, Korea's top mobile messenger operator, with 11.4 trillion won, which was down from 12.2 trillion won three months earlier.

Pharmaceutical giant Celltrion's Honorary Chairman Seo Jung-jin came next with 8.6 trillion won, down from 10.2 trillion won three months ago.

The institute also said the value of stocks held by 33 of the heads of the country's 72 conglomerates fell 7.5 percent to 59.8 trillion won over the cited period amid a bearish stock market.

Chung Mong-gyu, chairman of major South Korean real estate developer HDC Hyundai Development, suffered the biggest drop in stock holdings, with his stock value falling 28.7 percent to 202.3 billion won.

The drop came in the wake of a fatal accident at its construction site in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, in January.

In contrast, Lee Soon-hyung, chairman of SeAH Steel Holdings, enjoyed the biggest increase to 131.4 billion won from 111.3 billion won over the cited period. (Yonhap)