South Korean chip equipment firm founder Sung Kyu-dong joins billionaire ranks as AI boom lifts shares

Surging demand for memory chips tied to the AI boom has pushed EO Technics shares up more than 40% this year, making founder Sung Kyu-dong a billionaire.

Sung, 68, holds a 28% stake in EO Technics as its largest shareholder, while his wife Chung Yoon-hye and their two sons together own nearly 2%. Forbes estimates the family’s net worth at $1 billion as of March 27.

Based in Anyang, south of Seoul, EO Technics produces laser-based equipment used in memory chip manufacturing. The company reported revenue of 381 billion won ($253 million) in 2025, up 19% year on year, while net income rose 35% to 58 billion won, according to Forbes.

Song Myung-sub, an analyst at IM Securities, said in a research note last week that EO Technics’ core semiconductor machinery business is expected to grow steadily in 2026. The outlook is supported by expanding production capacity at memory chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and rising demand for laser marking on protective shields and cooling components used in AI chips.

Sung Kyu-dong, founder and CEO of South Korean chip equipment firm EO Technics

Sung founded EO Technics in 1989 and listed the company on South Korea’s Kosdaq stock exchange in 2000. Before that, he worked at Goldstar Central Research Center, Daewoo Heavy Industries, and Korea Laser, an early pioneer of industrial laser technology in the country. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Seoul National University.

He is among a growing number of South Korean billionaires whose fortunes are tied to the semiconductor sector, including Kwak Dong Shin of Hanmi Semiconductor, Kim Sang-beom of ISU Petasys, and Lee Chae-yoon of Leeno Industrial.