Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung Group has seen its global brand value rise in dollar
terms,... but its ranking has fallen a notch from last year.
Samsung's arch rival Apple easily topped this year's list.
Kim Min-ji updates us on where the tech giant stands.
Over 83 billion U.S. dollars.
That's the brand value of Samsung,...
Korea's top business group.
According to UK-based industry tracker Brand Finance,... that's up one-point-eight percent
from a year ago,... and puts Samsung in third place.
Brand value is measured by taking into account various factors, such as brand strength, brand
loyalty and brand revenues.
The world's most valuable brand was Apple,... at 145-point-nine billion dollars,... up 14
percent on-year.
Google ranked second,... rising a notch from the previous year.
Other Korean conglomerates on the list included Hyundai in 36th,... and LG Group in 102nd.
And the wealthier these brands are,... the richer their owners tend to be.
But how many of the world's richest people are self-made billionaires and how many inherited
their vast wealth?
According to the U.S. Peterson Institute for International Economics,... in Korea,... most
of the country's biggest business groups have been passed down through the controlling families,...
with three out of four billionaires in Korea inheriting their wealth.
That puts Korea in fifth place,... among 67 countries.
Finland and Kuwait topped the list at 100 percent,... meaning all billionaires inherited
their wealth,... while in Russia,... all billionaires were self-made.
Taking a look at some major economies,... only two percent of billionaires in China
inherited their wealth.
The corresponding figure stood at 18 percent for Japan and 28 percent for the U.S.
Worldwide, those who succeeded on their own have been on the rise.
In 1996, the proportion stood at 44 percent,... but by 2014 it reached 69 percent,... surpassing
the figure of billionaires who inherited their wealth.
However, in Korea,... the number is still relatively low at 26 percent.
Experts attribute the trend to Korea's chaebol-centered economic structure,... and people's preference
for stable jobs.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.