"The Longest-Serving CEO Among the 10 Trillion Won Sales Club is Cha Seok-yong, Vice Chairman of LG Household & Health Care"

CXO Research Institute, Survey on CEO Tenure Among Professional Managers

Status of Tenure of Professional Managers. [Provided by CXO Research Institute]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Ye-ju] It has been revealed that more than 10 professional CEOs have maintained the title of 'CEO' for over 10 years among large corporations in South Korea that have joined the 1 trillion KRW domestic sales club. Among them, the longest-serving CEO holding the CEO position at the same company is Cha Seok-yong, Vice Chairman of LG Household & Health Care.

The Korea CXO Research Institute, specializing in corporate analysis, announced the results of the "2022 Survey on the Tenure of Professional CEOs Holding the CEO Title among the 1 Trillion KRW Sales Club" on the 22nd. The survey targeted companies with separate financial statement sales exceeding 1 trillion KRW last year. The subjects were professional CEOs holding the CEO position as of this year's semi-annual report. Owners and executives with special relationships such as relatives were excluded from the survey. The CEO tenure was calculated on an annual basis, counting those newly appointed this year as having one year, and the period was calculated in reverse from the first time each CEO assumed the CEO position. The final position was referenced from the status indicated in this year's semi-annual report.

According to the survey, among 231 listed companies in South Korea with sales exceeding 1 trillion KRW as of last year, there were 322 CEOs officially holding the CEO title. Excluding 54 owners, 268 were identified as professional CEOs. Among them, 106 were first appointed as CEOs between last year and this year, accounting for an overwhelming 39.6%. This means that about 4 out of 10 professional CEOs in large corporations have relatively short CEO careers of one to two years. Those with 3 to 4 years of tenure numbered 88 (32.8%), exceeding 30%. Broadly speaking, professional CEOs with less than 5 years of tenure accounted for over 70% of the total. Additionally, 47 (17.5%) had 5 to 6 years, and 13 (4.9%) had 7 to 9 years. Fourteen (5.2%) non-owner executives have maintained the CEO title for more than 10 years.

The longest-serving CEO is confirmed to be Cha Seok-yong, Vice Chairman of LG Household & Health Care. According to disclosures, Vice Chairman Cha first assumed the CEO position at LG Household & Health Care on January 1, 2005. His official term expires on March 28, 2025. If he maintains the CEO position until the end of his term, Cha Seok-yong will set a record of holding the CEO position at the same company for over 20 years.

Following Vice Chairman Cha is Baek Woo-seok, Chairman and CEO of OCI, who has held the CEO position for 17 years. Han Seung-gu, Chairman of Gyeryong Construction Industry, first received the CEO title in January 2008 and has continued as CEO for 15 years this year. Kim Pal-soo, CEO of Seohui Construction, took the CEO helm in March 2009 and has maintained the CEO title for 14 years this year.

Among the approximately 270 professional CEOs surveyed, seven officially hold the title of Chairman and CEO. Among them, two professional CEOs with over 10 years of CEO experience are Baek Woo-seok, Chairman of OCI, and Han Seung-gu, Chairman of Gyeryong Construction Industry. The other five members of the professional CEO Chairman club are ▲Yoon Jong-kyu, Chairman of KB Financial Group (appointed CEO in November 2014) ▲Choi Hyun-man, Chairman of Mirae Asset Securities (November 2016) ▲Choi Jung-woo, Chairman of POSCO Holdings (March 2017) ▲Jo Byung-yong, Chairman of Shinhan Financial Group (March 2017) ▲Ham Young-joo, Chairman of Hana Financial Group (March 2022).

According to this year's semi-annual report, although they do not hold the CEO title, professional CEOs maintaining the chairman position as unregistered executives include Kim Ki-nam, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Han Jun-ho, Chairman of Samchully.

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