Average age of S. Korean conglomerate heads gets 10 years younger in just two years

Emergence of younger corporate leaders points to generational shift

Until just a few years ago, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won ― who inherited control of the SK Group while still in his 30s in September 1998 ― was the youngest chairperson in the Federation of Korean Industries. But over the past few years, a changing of the guard at South Korea’s 10 largest conglomerates has pushed him above the average age.

According to publicly available data from the Financial Supervisory Service and the Fair Trade Commission that the Hankyoreh reviewed on Dec. 3, the owners of South Korea’s 10 biggest groups ― namely Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, LG, Lotte, Hanwha, GS, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Shinsegae Department Store, and Hanjin ― had an average age of 63.2. “Owner” here is based on standards maintained by the Fair Trade Commission, which designates the owner of these groups each year after taking into account their effective sway over management and their stake in the group. The average age of the 10 groups’ owners has fallen about 10 years in just two years, down from 73 in 2017.

A calculation focusing on “de facto heads” -- managers who essentially direct their group despite not having as much of a stake passed down to them  puts the average age of such de facto heads for the top 10 groups even lower at 59.1 years. While 82-year-old Chairman Chung Mong-koo is the “same person” (conglomerate head) for the Hyundai Motor Group, 50-year-old Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun has arguably been serving as its de facto head, having assumed overall management duties late last year. The GS Group’s announcement the same day that 72-year-old Chairman Huh Chang-soo was “stepping down from a front-line management role” and that 63-year-old GS Home Shopping Chairman Huh Tae-soo would be “taking over the management baton” means that Huh Tae-soo has now become GS’s de facto head.

If nominal heads are taken out of the equation, the oldest “same person” for a top group is Shinsegae Chairwoman Lee Myung-hee, 77. While she is not a registered executive for a group affiliate, Lee is in charge of executive appointments and all other aspects of management as group chairperson. She is the only head in her 70s for any of top 10 groups. Five are in their 60s: Chung Mong-joon (69, Hyundai Heavy Industries), Kim Seung-youn (68, Hanwha), Shin Dong-bin (65, Lotte), Huh Tae-soo (63, GS), and Chey Tae-won (60, SK). Two each are in their 40s and 50s: Lee Jae-yong (52, Samsung), Chung Eui-sun (50, Hyundai Motor), Cho Won-tae (45, Hanjin), and Koo Kwang-mo (42, LG). While stepping down on Dec. 3, Huh Chang-soo said, “This is a time that demands a new leader with a global sense and digital innovation leadership.”

By Kyung-rak, staff reporter

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