Samsung Co-CEO Han Jong-hee Passes Away
Han Jong-hee, co-chief executive of Samsung Electronics, has passed away from a heart attack. This leaves Jun Young-hyun, the newly appointed co-CEO, as the sole leader of the South Korean tech giant.
Jun's appointment as co-CEO occurred just last week during Samsung's annual shareholders meeting. He now takes the helm as the company navigates challenges in its chip business and ongoing trade uncertainties.
While Samsung has regained its position as the world's leading memory chipmaker in 2024, it has faced weak earnings and a declining share price in recent quarters. This decline is attributed to falling behind rivals in advanced memory chips and contract chip manufacturing, areas experiencing high demand due to AI projects.
Han, 63, was appointed co-vice chairman and CEO in 2022 and also oversaw consumer electronics and mobile businesses. He joined Samsung in 1988 and spent most of his career in TV-related divisions, during which time the company became the world's leading TV manufacturer. He played a crucial role in gaining global recognition for Samsung's high-end TV sets.
"His numerous other innovations enabled the company to continually demonstrate its technology leadership," stated the firm in a company biography published earlier this month.
Han passed away in the hospital on Tuesday while receiving treatment for cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife and three children.
A company spokesperson confirmed that Han's successor has not yet been determined.
At the shareholder meeting he chaired last week, Han informed investors that 2025 would be a challenging year. He also expressed Samsung's commitment to responding flexibly to US President Donald Trump's tariffs by leveraging its global supply chain and manufacturing footprint.
Shareholders questioned Han and other executives at the meeting regarding the company's failure to capitalize on the AI boom, which contributed to its status as one of the worst-performing tech stocks last year.
In the semiconductor industry, Samsung lags behind SK Hynix in the production of high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are crucial for AI graphic processing units utilized by companies like Nvidia.
"First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for the recent stock performance not meeting your expectations," Han stated. "Over the past year, our company failed to adequately respond to the rapidly evolving AI semiconductor market."
Sources indicate that Samsung is also exploring expansion into the automotive electronics market to drive new growth.
Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, currently in China for the China Development Forum, visited Xiaomi's car factory in Beijing and BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen, according to photos posted on Chinese social media and local media reports.