CEOs of Top 500 Companies: Half in Their 60s... 83% Are Professional Managers

by Kim HyeongMin

Published 10 Jan.2024 08:17(KST)

The Youngest is Nathan Michael Chong, CEO of AIA Life
The Oldest is Lee Sang-eun, CEO of DAS
Female CEOs Account for 2.4%

It was found that one out of every two CEOs of the top 500 companies in South Korea is in their 60s.

The high-rise buildings in Yeouido are brightly lit. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 10th, the 'CEO Research Institute' of the Corporate Data Research Center surveyed the ages of CEOs of the top 500 companies, and as of early this year, the average age of 670 CEOs was 59.7 years. This is 1.1 years older than the 58.6 years recorded at the end of 2020, three years ago. Since the end of 2020, when the proportion of CEOs in their 50s was the largest at 50.6% (337 people), the proportion of CEOs in their 60s has significantly increased over the past three years.

As of early this year, the proportion of CEOs in their 60s was 49.0% (328 people), up 13.1 percentage points compared to the end of 2020 (35.9%, 239 people). Meanwhile, the proportion of CEOs in their 50s fell to 38.5% (258 people). During the same period, the proportions of CEOs in their 40s (7.2% → 6.7%, 48 people → 45 people) and 30s (0.9% → 0.3%, 6 people → 2 people) also decreased. On the other hand, the proportions of CEOs in their 70s (4.2% → 4.3%, 28 people → 29 people) and 80s (0.9% → 1.0%, 6 people → 7 people) slightly increased.

Nathan Michael Chong, CEO of AIA Life, born in 1988 (36 years old), was confirmed as the youngest CEO. The oldest CEO is Lee Sang-eun, born in 1933 (91 years old), CEO of DAS.

As of early this year, the proportion of professional managers among CEOs was 83.4%, an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared to three years ago. The proportion of owner-family CEOs decreased from 18.2% to 16.6%. The average age of owner-family CEOs decreased by 0.2 years, from 59.7 years at the end of 2020 to 59.5 years early this year.