PSK Holdings founder Park Kyoung-soo has become a billionaire during the AI-driven memory boom, according to Forbes. The publication estimates his net worth at $1.1 billion at Thursday’s market close.
Shares of the South Korean chip-equipment maker surged more than threefold over the past year, Forbes reports. Park, 73, is its largest shareholder.
PSK Holdings Shares Lift Founder Wealth
Park owns roughly 35% of the company, including shares held by his three daughters. Forbes bases its wealth estimate on that stake, rather than reporting a cash payment to the founder.
The company trades on South Korea’s technology-focused Kosdaq exchange. Its headquarters are in Hwaseong, south of Seoul and near Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factories.
PSK Holdings makes machines that clean and connect components inside advanced semiconductor packages. These include packages combining AI processors with high-bandwidth memory, known as HBM.
The packages place processors close to stacks of memory. That arrangement allows data to move rapidly between the processor and memory, according to the report.
In the first half of this year, company revenue rose 14% year over year to 75.3 billion won ($55 million). Net income climbed 35% to 44 billion won.
The Forbes founder profile connects the share-price increase to demand for equipment used in advanced chip packaging. It describes Park as the latest South Korean semiconductor entrepreneur to enter the billionaire ranks.
Two Products Perform Different Packaging Tasks
One main product, Ecolite, uses plasma to remove microscopic residue. That residue remains after chipmakers use a light-sensitive material called photoresist to create redistribution layers.
Those layers contain microscopic copper wires carrying electrical signals between chips and other components inside a package. Ecolite’s cleaning role concerns that stage of production.
Another main product, Geneva, melts tiny pieces of solder. The solder forms electrical connections between one chip or layer and another.
Forbes describes that process as a critical step in packages combining AI processors with stacks of HBM. The two machines therefore address different tasks in assembling advanced packages.
KB Securities analysts outlined their expectations in a July research note. They expect Ecolite demand to grow as Samsung, SK hynix and Micron expand HBM production.
The analysts link that expansion to AI accelerators needing faster memory data-transfer speeds. Their view is a forecast, rather than confirmation of future equipment orders.
They also expect Geneva demand to grow as chipmakers expand capacity for advanced packages. Those packages use the equipment to connect AI processors, HBM and the layers beneath them.
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Construction Work Preceded The Company
Park founded PSK Holdings in 1990 and took it public on the Kosdaq in 1997. Before starting it, Park worked for Miryung Construction, now known as DB Construction.
That company was founded by fellow billionaire Kim Jun-ki. Park worked on construction of a silicon-wafer factory for Monsanto, the US seeds and pesticides maker.
Monsanto’s electronic-materials division manufactured silicon wafers for chipmakers at the time, Forbes reports. Park later built a business supplying equipment used in semiconductor production.
Park holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Korea University in Seoul. He also holds an M.B.A. from California State University, Los Angeles.
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The company’s two main product lines remain tied to the packaging tasks described by Forbes. KB Securities’ stated outlook depends on chipmakers expanding the HBM and advanced-package capacity that uses those machines.