At 68 years old, Sung Gyu-dong holds a 28% stake in INNO LASER, making him the largest shareholder of this Kosdaq-listed technology company. His wife, Chung Yoon-hye (phonetic), and their two sons collectively hold nearly another 2%. Forbes estimates that as of Friday's market close, Sung Gyu-dong and his family have a net worth of $1 billion.
INNO LASER is headquartered in Anyang, south of Seoul, and manufactures laser equipment used to produce memory chips. Its flagship product is the Chip-Level Marking Machine (CSM), which etches traceable identification codes onto chips, enabling manufacturers to quickly isolate the source of any defects. In 2025, the company's revenue grew 19% year-over-year to 381 billion South Korean won (approximately $253 million), while net profit surged 35% to 58 billion South Korean won.
In a research report released last week, Song Myung-sub (phonetic), an analyst at IM Securities, forecast steady growth for INNO LASER's CSM business in 2026, driven primarily by new capacity additions from memory chip makers like Samsung and rising demand for specialized laser marking on protective shielding layers and heat dissipation components for AI chips—parts designed to prevent AI chips from interfering with other electronic devices or overheating.
Another key product from the company is LA (Laser Annealing), which uses lasers to finish the internal circuit pathways of chips—a process known as dopant activation—delivering the precise thermal energy required for operation without damaging the rest of the memory stack. &#34;As NAND stacking layers increase, the benefits of our laser annealing equipment are expected to become more pronounced starting next year,&#34; Song noted in the report. &#34;The higher the number of stacking layers, the more heat is generated; therefore, it is likely that annealing methods in NAND will shift from overall thermal treatment to localized laser processing.&#34;
Sung Gyu-dong founded INNO LASER in 1989 and took the company public on the Korean Stock Exchange in 2000. Before establishing INNO LASER, Sung worked at Gold Star Co. (the predecessor of LG Electronics), Daewoo Heavy Industries (the flagship subsidiary of the Daewoo Group before its 1999 bankruptcy), and Korea Laser—the pioneer of industrial laser technology in South Korea. He holds both a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University.
Sung Gyu-dong is South Korea's newest semiconductor billionaire. Other billionaires in this field include Kwak Dong-shin of Hanmi Semiconductors, whose company manufactures equipment for high-bandwidth memory chips; Kim Sang-beom of ISU Petasys, a printed circuit board manufacturer; and Lee Chae-yoon of Leeno Industrial, whose company produces components for semiconductor testing equipment used to detect chip defects.
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Sung Gyu-dong, 68, holds a 28% stake in INNO LASER as its largest shareholder, with a family net worth of $1 billion. INNO LASER specializes in laser equipment for memory chips and is projected to see revenue growth of 19% in 2025. Analysts predict that as companies like Samsung expand capacity, demand for laser marking will rise, particularly for protective components in AI chips. Sung founded the company in 1989 and listed it on the stock market in 2000

- Seong Gyu-dong, 68, holds a 28% stake in I.O. Laser, making him the largest shareholder of the company listed on Korea's KOSDAQ.  
- I.O. Laser's revenue grew 19% to 381 billion KRW in 2025, driven by increased demand for laser marking equipment from memory chip makers like Samsung.  
- Analysts project further growth in the company's CSM business due to rising demand for specialized laser marking for AI chips, indicating potential advancements in laser annealing technology for NAND processing.

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Another South Korean Semiconductor Billionaire Emerges, This Time in Laser Technology