In the first half of this year, more than one-third of compensation paid to top-earning executives at South Korean conglomerates was delivered in the form of stock, according to new data. Stock-based awards were concentrated among professional managers rather than owner-family members, with SK and Doosan groups accounting for over 60% of the total value.

According to an analysis by corporate data research firm CEO Score of companies belonging to South Korean conglomerates that filed half-year reports, 661 executives received total compensation of 500 million won (approximately $360,000) or more. Of these, 145 individuals — 21.9% of the total — received stock-based compensation.

Stock-based awards totaled 368.9 billion won (approximately $262.3 million), representing 36.4% of the 1.01 trillion won (approximately $721.3 million) in total compensation (excluding retirement income) paid to the 661 executives surveyed. Stock-based compensation encompasses various forms of equity-linked awards, including restricted stock units (RSUs), performance stock units (PSUs), stock options, and stock appreciation rights (SARs). Depending on each company’s disclosure practices, some stock-based awards may be classified under bonuses or other categories rather than as a separate line item in individual compensation details.

SK and Doosan Account for 63.5% of Total

SK Group had the largest number of stock-based compensation recipients, with 30 executives receiving a combined 153.4 billion won (approximately $109.1 million). Doosan Group ranked second with 18 executives receiving 80.8 billion won (approximately $57.4 million). Together, the two groups’ stock-based pay totaled 234.3 billion won (approximately $166.6 million), or 63.5% of the overall figure.

CEO Score attributed the concentration to the AI boom, which drove earnings improvements in semiconductors and power generation along with sharp share price gains, creating a large pool of performance beneficiaries.

Of the 145 stock-based compensation recipients, owner-family members numbered just 9 (6.2%), while professional managers accounted for 136 (93.8%). The 9 owner-family members received a combined 66.6 billion won (approximately $47.3 million), or 18.0% of the total, while the 136 professional managers received 302.3 billion won (approximately $214.9 million), or 82.0%.

Chairman Park Jeong-won Tops Owner-Family Recipients

Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won received 37.6 billion won (approximately $26.7 million) in stock-based compensation, the largest amount among owner-family members. The figure represents 82.5% of his total compensation of 45.6 billion won (approximately $32.4 million).

Park’s stock-based compensation surged as Doosan’s share price climbed. RSUs granted to Park in 2023 were worth just 2.8 billion won (approximately $2.0 million) at the then-current share price, but with Doosan’s stock rallying sharply this year, the value at the vesting date jumped roughly 13-fold to 37.6 billion won.

Following Park Jeong-won, other notable owner-family recipients included Doosan Enerbility Chairman Park Ji-won at 17.4 billion won (approximately $12.4 million), LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-eun at 7.4 billion won (approximately $5.3 million), Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae at 1.2 billion won (approximately $850,000), Woongjin Group Vice Chairman Yoon Sae-bom at 1.1 billion won (approximately $780,000), Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Chairman Chung Mong-yoon at 740 million won (approximately $530,000), Oricom Vice Chairman Park Hye-won at 590 million won (approximately $420,000), and Krafton Board Chairman Chang Byung-gyu at 450 million won (approximately $320,000).

The top five professional managers by stock-based compensation were all from SK Group: SK Hynix President Kwak Noh-jung at 21.8 billion won (approximately $15.5 million), SK Square Chief Investment Officer Song Jae-seung at 17.9 billion won (approximately $12.7 million), SK Telecom President Jung Jae-heon at 16.7 billion won (approximately $11.9 million), SK Hynix management advisor Park Jung-ho at 16 billion won (approximately $11.4 million), and SK Hynix executive Choi Jun-ki at 12.4 billion won (approximately $8.8 million).

CategoryRecipientsStock-Based Pay (₩100M)ShareOwner-family966618.0%Professional managers1363,02382.0%Total1453,689100%

Note: Based on CEO Score survey. Retirement income excluded.

The findings underscore how South Korean conglomerates are rapidly shifting their compensation structures from cash-centric models to equity-linked arrangements. The surge in demand for AI semiconductors — particularly SK Hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) — and the strength of Doosan’s nuclear power and energy businesses drove share prices higher, lifting the value of performance-linked stock awards in tandem.

The concentration of stock-based compensation among professional managers also aligns with broader corporate governance trends aimed at aligning the interests of shareholders and management. However, the heavy skew toward specific groups suggests that compensation gaps could widen further depending on industry-level earnings divergence and share price trajectories.