This is a story I heard a long time ago from a person in the aviation industry.
It is said that the head of a conglomerate sat in first class immediately after boarding the plane.
He's the head of a chaebol, so the flight attendants were supposed to be like that, but that wasn't the case.
After a while, another conglomerate who had actually reserved a seat got on the plane.
In the eyes of the general public, they all look the same, but among first class seats, the so-called 'royal seat' is the talk of the airline industry.
How did things go that day?
It is said that the flight attendants sweat and try to adjust his seat, but the gunman who sits first does not move away.
It may be the result of the consent of the other general who was the original reservation, but it is also an anecdote that shows how much the business world respects 'order' and 'protocol'.
It's a fight for pride, but there is something that is considered the official standard for dividing such ranks in the business world.
This is the 'Publication Target Group' ranking announced annually by the Fair Trade Commission.
SK overtakes Hyundai to rank second in the business world
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This year, it became a hot topic as there was a change in the rankings of this large corporation group, among them, the top 5 groups with the most interest.
The undisputed number one was Samsung with a total asset of over 483 trillion won.
In second place, there was a change of place, and SK, which had grown to 291 trillion won in size, rose to second place, beating Hyundai Motor, which had been in the position for 12 years.
(In terms of SK and Hyundai, it is the first time in 18 years since 2004 that the rankings of the two companies have changed.) Hyundai Motor ranked third with 257 trillion won, LG fourth with 167 trillion won, and Lotte fifth with 121 trillion won. were recorded respectively.
The growth of IT companies has also been steady.
Both total assets and corporate rankings have risen compared to last year. Kakao’s total assets increased from 19.952 trillion won last year to 32.216 trillion won this year, raising its corporate ranking by three steps from 18th to 15th.
Naver also moved up its ranking from 27th to 22nd as its assets increased from 13.584 trillion won to 19.22 trillion won in one year.
In addition, it also drew attention that Dunamu, who operates the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, was first named to a large conglomerate group.
business hierarchy? What is it?
I was curious.
What will change if the business hierarchy changes?
I called SK.
An SK official lowered his stance as much as possible, saying, "Asset size is not an absolute standard. It's something the regulatory authorities have announced. Nowadays, there are many ESG and other standards (for evaluating corporate value)."
However, he said, "It is true that we have grown diligently by changing business models such as batteries and semiconductors.
Should I say it's a winner's margin?
It is said that there is no difference from a business standpoint, but in fact, until a few years ago, when the government sought cooperation from the business community (this used to be a link of suspicion of political and economic collusion), it is said that when corporate investment was necessary, it was made according to the business hierarchy. .
The establishment of the Mir K-Sports Foundation at the time of the Park Geun-hye administration's National Nongdan Incident is such a case.
But, of course, it is not for this reason that companies are interested in rankings.
If you listen to the stories of business people, they say that the 'ceremonies' at national events change according to the 'order'.
If President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol holds a meeting with business leaders after taking office immediately, the positions will be assigned according to the business hierarchy.
In various materials and articles, the names of companies and their heads are listed in that order, so it is not a concern for the person in charge of publicity or protocol.
This may not be a big deal as it is 'their story', but the impact on domestic and foreign investors and its employees cannot be ignored.
Does the size of the assets matter? Market capitalization and sales standards
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In fact, assets are not the only criterion for evaluating a company.
Asset size is a key data for evaluating a company's value in industries such as semiconductors, automobiles, and chemicals that require large-scale facility investment, but it is not suitable for industries such as IT.
This is because there is no need for large-scale factories for companies such as Kakao or Naver.
It is also not small that Apple, which is said to have a brand value of 427 trillion won, is using foreign companies to produce without directly owning factory facilities, which is a huge asset.
In that respect, the market cap is attracting attention.
Market capitalization refers to the value of a company in the stock market.
Tesla's stock price is not based solely on current performance.
Future value occupies a much larger part.
Many analyzes say that the reason why Samsung Electronics is unable to break out of '60,000 electronics' despite its impressive performance is because it does not give us confidence in its future value.
In terms of market capitalization, as of the closing price of the 26th, Samsung's 579.8 trillion won (16 listed companies), LG 202.7 trillion won (11 listed companies), SK 180.8 trillion won (20 listed companies), and Hyundai Motor's 120.3 trillion won are ranked differently.
Of course, there are limits to the market capitalization standard as well.
First of all, there is too much volatility.
In addition, the sales standard is an indicator that reflects how active the company is.
If we compare it to our body, we can think of assets as our body and sales as the amount of activity.
It is useful as a reference because companies with high activity are more likely to generate profits.
However, just as assets are 'liabilities + equity', so it cannot be viewed as a good thing.
Recently, as well as these traditional indicators, ESG, which stands for Environment, Social, and Governance, which are non-financial factors of a company, is being considered as a major factor in evaluating corporate value.
I wonder who will be number 1 if all criteria are applied.