Korean Business Leadership Moves to the '3rd Generation'... Lee Jae-yong's Path After '10 Years as Vice Chairman' Graduation

Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to be promoted to Chairman in November... Third-generation business leadership begins
Attention on the next moves of young heads

Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and Bill Gates, Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are taking a commemorative photo after their meeting. / Source=Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] When Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong ascends to the chairman position this November, the management reins of major groups will be completely handed over to the ‘third generation.’ Vice Chairman Lee was the only head of the four major groups?Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG Group?who held the title of ‘Vice Chairman.’ The young heads of these groups show a clear difference from the first and second generations in that they possess flexible and creative thinking rather than a vertical and authoritarian corporate culture. Additionally, they have global management sensibilities and networks, and there is a lot of business exchange among them, which is another distinguishing factor. With global business conditions worsening, there is keen interest in what kind of vision these young leaders will present.

According to the business community on the 31st, the first among the heads of the four major groups to take the chairman title was the eldest, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. Chairman Chey, who will mark his 24th anniversary of inauguration on the 1st of next month, became the head of the group at the young age of 38 in 1998 when his father, former Chairman Chey Jong-hyun, suddenly passed away due to illness.

Chairman Chey is the mastermind behind transforming the group’s business portfolio, which had been centered on energy, petrochemicals, and ICT, by adding semiconductors and growing it into a global top-tier company. He led a ‘deep change’ by establishing a business model focused on future value, raising the group’s ranking in the business world to second place, surpassing Hyundai Motor in just 16 years.

Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Eui-sun ascended to the head position after Chairman Chung Mong-koo stepped down to honorary chairman in October 2020. Chairman Chung is also in the process of transforming the company’s identity from a ‘car’ company to a ‘mobility’ company by acquiring robotics firms like Boston Dynamics and changing the company name to Hyundai Motor and Kia.

Among the four major group chairmen, the youngest is LG Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, born in 1978, who was promoted to chairman in June 2018 following the passing of Chairman Koo Bon-moo. Within four years, he boldly exited solar power and mobile phone businesses and succeeded in turning the ‘loss-making’ automotive components business into a future growth engine for the group.

The business community evaluates that these young heads of groups are taking a different path from previous generations. To respond to worsening management environments such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the strengthening of global protectionism, they are evolving from rivals into cooperative partners. Furthermore, since all four major groups face a situation where they must explore future growth engines such as bio, artificial intelligence (AI), and batteries or risk falling behind in global competition, it is expected that cooperation among the young heads will become even stronger in the future.

A business community official said, "Currently, the international situation and order are completely changing due to technological hegemony following Korea’s liberation, industrialization in the 1960s, informatization in the 1980s, and digitalization in the 2000s. Samsung Electronics must present a ‘foresight’ looking ahead 30 years. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s promotion to chairman should be seen as preparing the conditions to independently lead mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and business restructuring," he said.

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