Among Four Top Executives, One Is an Unregistered Officer... Salary Is 2.4 Times That of Professional Managers

Average First Half Salary of Group Heads 2.4 Times That of Professional Managers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Among four business group heads, one is directly involved in management but does not bear legal responsibility as an unregistered executive. Their salaries in the first half of the year amount to 2.4 times the average salary of professional managers.

On the 30th, Leaders Index, a corporate analysis research institute, conducted a full survey of 42 large business groups with owners among the top 50 groups by asset size. Among the 36 groups where the head is directly involved in management, 9 (25%) were found to be unregistered executives. The owner families participating in management within the scope of the revised announcement of large business group heads’ relatives?within four degrees of blood relation and three degrees of affinity?numbered 206, of which 31 (15%) were unregistered executives.

The difference between registered and unregistered executives lies in board participation. Registered executives are members of the board of directors, making key decisions and bearing legal responsibility accordingly. In contrast, unregistered executive heads participate in management but are not board members, allowing them to avoid legal responsibility if problems arise.

The group heads currently engaged in management as unregistered executives include Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics; Kim Seung-yeon, Chairman of Hanwha Group; Lee Myung-hee, Chairwoman of Shinsegae; Lee Jae-hyun, Chairman of CJ Group; Lee Jun-yong, Chairman of DL; Park Hyun-joo of Mirae Asset GISO; Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) of Naver; Kim Joon-ki, founder of DB Group; and Park Chan-gu, Chairman of Kumho Petrochemical.

The group with the highest owner family participation in management is GS Group. Sixteen family members are involved in management as registered executives at 24 positions, including concurrent roles, and as unregistered executives at 3 positions.

The group where unregistered executives outnumber registered executives among owner family members participating in management is Shinsegae Group. The head, Lee Myung-hee, Chairwoman of Shinsegae Group, and her first-degree relatives, Jung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae, and Jung Yoo-kyung, President of Shinsegae Department Store Division, are all unregistered executives. In Hanwha Group, except for Kim Dong-kwan, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Solutions, Kim Seung-yeon, Chairman of Hanwha Group; Kim Dong-won, Vice President of Hanwha Life Insurance; and Kim Dong-sun, Executive Director of Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, are all participating in management as unregistered executives.

Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, the average salary of the heads of 15 business groups (28 affiliated companies) was 3.421 billion KRW, which is 2.4 times the average salary of 1.422 billion KRW received by the 15 highest-paid professional managers in these groups.

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