We love, hate, envy, admire and emulate the traits of the rich men.

In the digital era, we share information, impression and our feelings toward the superrich online.

The Korea Herald Special Investigation Team and social media analyst, Jelly Fish studied “big data” related to wealthy people of Korea and abroad to pinpoint our latest obsessions and how we perceive them. The team has studied articles and search terms on www.naver.com, the country’s largest portal site, as well as Twitter, Facebook and blog posts that were published between Jan. 1 and Nov. 31, 2014.

Those on the survey list were Daum Kakao board chairman Kim Beom-su, Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo, NCsoft founder Kim Taek-jin, AmorePacific chairman Seo Kyung-bae, LG chairman Koo Bon-moo, Samsung vice chairman Lee Jay-yong, SK chairman Chey Tae-won, Samsung heiress and Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee and Hanwha chairman Kim Seung-youn.

Some superrich overseas were also researched. They were Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the late former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Alibaba founder Jack Ma and United Arab Emirati Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

As part of the research, likeability marks were given to keywords associated with positivity such as “success,” “like,” “well,” “want to be,” “innovation” and “act” while negative marks were imposed on keywords such as “misdemeanor,” “divorce” or “have not been taken into action.” 


Likeable superrich

Daum Kakao head Kim Beom-su scored the highest in likeability with 89 percent. Kim, the developer of the country’s most downloaded mobile messenger, was mostly associated with keywords such as “success,” “founder” and others in 11,700 out of 50,675 articles mentioning his name. Only 1,411 articles included negative keywords. 

In fact, Kim was the only domestic superrich to be associated with the keyword “success.”

Hyundai chairman Chung also scored 87 percent for being associated with “Hyundai,” “management,” “acquisition of new real estate for new headquarters” and others rather than “chaebol,” “irregular workers,” “irregularities” and other generally negative keywords.

Zuckerberg was the most liked foreign magnate with 89 percent likeability, followed by 87 percent scored by Gates. Zuckerberg was mostly associated with words such as “make,” while Gates was linked with “think.”

Sheikh Mansour with 74.9 percent likeability was mostly associated with smiley faces, “billion,” “oil,” “wife,” “son” and other keywords that reflect his wealth. His acquisition of English football team Manchester City was also brought into attention, with many of the associated keywords being related to his wealth and confidence in management.

Surprisingly, Korean superrich people’s overall likeability was scaled at 59 percent, far lower than overseas billionaires’ average of 77 percent. 


Less-liked superrich

Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, who has reportedly been in intensive care for his illness since April, has been associated with rather negative keywords such as “death,” “nothing” or “absence,” which brought down his likeability to 46 percent, based on 23,021 articles that mentioned him.

The lowest of the surveyed was Hanwha chairman Kim Seung-youn, who was convicted and caused a social stir for orchestrating a revenge attack against men involved in a bar brawl with his son. Kim scored 31 percent in likeability, with a total of 2,900 stories or posts mentioning him with keywords such as “probation,” “fist” and others. 


Most-searched superrich

Sheikh Mansour was the most searched name among all superrich.

His name was the most searched on the list at www.naver.com, as well as the most mentioned on social media, with 19,079 cases.

The United Arab Emirati was highly talked about in South Korea last year following reports of some of his lucrative deals including the acquisition of Manchester City football club and plans to develop the adjacent areas into an entertainment complex. A TV comedy sketch depicting his wealth and power became popular while his family, including his beautiful wives, have become equally famous.

His name was also associated with specific luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Porsche, reflecting Internet users’ interest in his wealth, which is estimated at $131.7 billion and within an estimated family fortune of $7 trillion.


Superrich and keywords

After an accident or incident, the names of the superrich emerge.

In 2014, the ill health of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee brought his son and Samsung vice chairman Lee Jay-yong associated with the keyword, “succession.” In lieu with his possible succession, political and legal terms such as “inheritance” (73 cases), “succession” (77) “law” (227), “prevention act” (23) arose.

Lee Jay-yong’s sister and Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin was placed at the center of attention last year when it was revealed that she had forgiven a taxi driver who had caused 400 million won in damage to the hotel’s front door with his car. She reportedly paid for his medical fees, too. Keywords for Ms. Lee included “taxi” (390 cases), “medical fees” (64) and “driver” (44).

SK chairman Chey Tae-won, who is currently in prison for embezzlement, also saw his name become popular in November when his second daughter Chey Min-jung volunteered to join the navy and was praised as practicing noblesse oblige. Instead of all the business her father had accomplished or handled, “Chey Min-jung” and “navy” were the most associated keywords for the senior Chey.


Most networked Superrich

Lee Kun-hee, arguably the wealthiest man in South Korea, was the superrich figure most mentioned or searched for in conjunction with his peers.

For example, LG chairman Koo was associated mostly with Lee Kun-hee, followed by Chung Mong-koo, Lee Jay-yong and Chey Tae-won. A similar pattern was detected for AmorePacific chairman Seo and Hyundai mogul Chung. 

By Korea Herald Special Investigative Team

(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)

Kwon Nam-keun
Hong Seung-wan
Sung Yeon-jin
Bae Ji-sook
Yoon Hyun-jong
Min Sang-seek
Kim Hyun-il