This story is part of Forbes’ report on South Korea’s richest 2025. See the full list here.

Stocks connected to electric vehicles fell 10% in 2024 amid slowdown in South Korea’s electric vehicle sales. Among the huge hotspots, stocks in stocks fell 10%. In KOSDAQ-listed chemical company Kumyang, the manufacturer of EV batteries, whose shares dropped their share price to more than 90% until the business scope of its auditors hung on the business in March, the company's shares suspended its business. CEO Ryu Kwang-ji made his debut in 2024 at South Korea’s richest competition, and he is the book this year.

Originally a maker of foam blowing agents, Kumyang expanded to batteries in 2023, and the same year its IPO made Ryu a billionaire. After specifying 610 billion won ($414 million) to build a battery factory near its Busan headquarters, the company launched a battery prototype in March 2024 touting it to be more powerful than Tesla.

Then things began to collapse. Last October, Kumyang was designated as a “disclosure company” by the Stock Exchange to cut sales in 2024 and production forecasts for Mongolia's lithium mines, above 90%. In January, the company removed the stock rights issue and chose to borrow 400 billion won from RYU to reduce its debt burden, which has surged to 1.5 times the equity. Ryu said in a statement that Kumyang will take all available measures to secure the transaction resume. The company did not respond Forbes AsiaMake a request for comment.