[Economy 365]

Agreements to grant shares to heads of conglomerates, relatives, or executives for performance compensation and other purposes increased by nearly 66% in a year.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, there were a total of 585 such cases across 15 corporate groups, marking a 65.7% increase from the previous year.

Samsung had the highest number of new agreements at 317, driven by the shift from cash-based executive incentives to stock.

Companies subject to regulations on private benefit-seeking, such as those where the founding family holds a 20% or greater stake, exceeded 1,000 for the first time.

On the other hand, circular shareholding chains dropped from 1,435 to 233.

The average shareholding of founding families stood at 3.5%, while the internal shareholding rate including affiliated companies was 61.4%.

*This article was produced with AI audio.