Tesla was the top choice for South Korean investors looking to buy into overseas stocks.
Per Korean Economic Daily, Korean investors purchased $2.74 billion of Tesla shares in 2022.
Via Korea Securities Depository, Korean investors now hold 1.75% of Tesla, worth an estimated $6.81 billion.
It appears South Koreans jumped on the Tesla bandwagon in the latter half of the year, with the peak in October.
However, with recent drops in Tesla stock due to Elon Musk’s actions with Twitter and rising interest rates in the US, many investors have lost significant capital.
It is an interesting change for South Korean investors, but it appears that Elon Musk-run companies are of interest.
Reuters reported earlier this week that Mirae Asset, a South Korean financial firm, is planning to invest $72 million in SpaceX in January.
South Korean investors have long preferred Korean entities, but overseas investment has continued to grow over the last several years.
It will be interesting to track if that continues or if recent losses on Tesla impact the popularity of looking past Korean opportunities to overseas companies.
