Young CJ with 8 CEO Changes... Chairman Lee Jae-hyun's Daughter and Son-in-law as Vice Presidents Leading Management Front

Lee Kyung-hoo, vice president and eldest daughter of Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of CJ Group, and her son-in-law, Vice President Jung Jong-hwan.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] On the 10th, CJ Group carried out a regular executive reshuffle, replacing the CEOs of eight major affiliates including CJ CheilJedang, CJ Logistics, and CJ ENM. This move aims to actively prepare for the post-COVID-19 and new normal era with a new management team. Executives born in the 1970s and 1980s were favored, lowering the average age of the 38 newly appointed executives to 45 years old. Among them, 21% (8 people) were female executives.

Choi Eun-seok, Head of Corporate Strategy at CJ Corporation, was appointed as the new CEO of CJ CheilJedang; Kang Shin-ho, CEO of CJ CheilJedang, was appointed as the new CEO of CJ Logistics; and Kang Ho-sung, Head of Corporate Support at CJ Corporation, was appointed as the new CEO of CJ ENM. Heo Min-hoe, CEO of CJ ENM, moved to become CEO of CJ CGV, and Jeong Seong-pil, CEO of CJ Foodville, moved to become CEO of CJ Freshway. Lim Kyung-mook, Head of Strategic Planning, was appointed as Head of Corporate Strategy at CJ Corporation. Additionally, Yoon Do-seon was appointed CEO of the China headquarters, Kim Chan-ho CEO of CJ Foodville, Shin Hyung-kwan CEO of CJ LiveCity, and Kim Seon-gang CEO of CJ Free&Care.

CJ explained, "We appointed CEOs who can respond to the rapidly changing business environment caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and other internal and external crises, and who can prepare for the future."

Heo Min-hoe, CEO of CJ ENM O Shopping Division, was promoted to Executive Vice President, and Kim Chan-ho, CEO of CJ Foodville, was promoted to Vice President equivalent. In total, there were one Executive Vice President, 13 Vice Presidents equivalent, and 26 Managing Directors promoted. Thirty-eight new executives (Managing Director equivalent) were also appointed, which is double the number of new executive promotions from last year. Among the new executives, 8 (21%) were women, with 5 of them born in the 1980s. The average age of the new executives is 45, which is two years younger than in the past two years. CJ emphasized, "This reflects a bold selection of young talent through merit-based competition rather than seniority, signaling an acceleration of generational change across the group," and stressed, "In 2021, we will focus on global survival by actively preparing for the post-COVID-19 and new normal era centered on the new management team."

The highly anticipated return of Lee Seon-ho, eldest son of Chairman Lee Jae-hyun and Deputy General Manager of CJ CheilJedang, to management did not occur. Earlier, Lee was arrested and indicted last year on charges of marijuana smuggling, and in February of this year, he was sentenced to three years in prison with a four-year suspended sentence on appeal and is currently keeping a low profile. Lee Kyung-hoo, eldest daughter and Managing Director at CJ ENM, was promoted to Vice President equivalent. This promotion came three years after her promotion to Managing Director in November 2017. Born in 1985, Lee completed her bachelor's degree in French literature and master's degree in psychology at Columbia University in the U.S., joined the holding company CJ's business team in July 2011, moved to CJ O Shopping (035760), and in 2016 worked as head of integrated marketing at CJ's U.S. regional headquarters. Last year, her husband Jeong Jong-hwan, Managing Director at CJ, was promoted to Vice President equivalent, creating a couple of vice presidents within the group.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.