SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS, Asia’s technology powerhouse battling Apple for smartphone supremacy, is shifting its chief executive to a new role as the family-run parent company prepares to transfer ownership control to a third generation.
Choi Gee-sung (61) will assume the new role of head of corporate strategy at Samsung Group, which presides over 81 companies including its flagship Samsung Electronics.
In a career with Samsung spanning more than three decades, Mr Choi has worked in all of the group’s main business divisions, from semiconductors to home appliances, televisions and telecoms, before taking over as chief executive in 2010.
Crucially, he is widely seen as chief mentor to Jay Y Lee (43), son of Samsung Electronics’ chairman Lee Kun-hee and the group’s heir apparent. Jay Y Lee stays as chief operating officer.
“Jay Y Lee is in the final stage of being groomed . . . and Choi will help in this process, helping him look into the group as a whole, not just the electronics unit,” said Chung Sun-sup, head of chaebul. com, an online information provider on South Korea’s industrial conglomerates.
Mr Choi oversaw Samsung’s rise to become the world’s top maker of smartphones and televisions just as rivals have struggled to innovate. – (Reuters)
