On Tuesday, March 25, Samsung’s co-CEO, Han Jong-hee, passed away at age 63.
Han had been at the company for nearly four decades
Han had been with Samsung for almost 40 years (quite a history). He started out in the displays division and, over time, moved up the ranks. Eventually, he became co-CEO alongside Jun Young-hyun.
He passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest
Han passed away after a cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife and three kids.
Han became the electronic company’s chief executive officer back in 2022
The Korean businessman took over as CEO in 2022. Before that, he was vice chairman and led the Device Experience division, handling TVs, home appliances, and smartphones.
Many people believe he played a key role in catapulting Samsung
Han is thought to be the one of the big reasons Samsung became the global tech giant it is now, even exceeding rivals like Sony.
His contribution to consumer electronics was so significant
Analyst Sanjeev Rana from CLSA Securities Korea highlighted the mark Han left on the tech world, saying, “his contribution to the consumer electronics business cannot be overstated.”
He pointed out that under Han’s leadership, Samsung’s TV business stayed dominant for the last 20 years—and the same goes for other key areas of the industry.
Now Samsung is yet to decide on a successor
Samsung hasn’t picked a successor yet. For now, Jun is running things alone, even though he was just made co-CEO with Han last week at the annual shareholders meeting.
Samsung’s market value has recently dropped significantly
Right now, Samsung is the 41st most valuable public company, with a market cap of $261.52 billion. But that’s a HUGE drop from its peak in January 2021, when it was worth $553 billion.
The decline is linked to underperforming chips and AI struggles
The drop is mostly because of weak chip sales and struggles with AI, of course compared to Samsung’s market rivals.
That’s when Samsung lost its dominance in the smartphone market
Samsung isn’t the top player in smartphones anymore—Apple took that spot. But it’s still in the game, competing with Google as one of the big three.
But that didn’t last too long, especially after the CEO’s passing
After the news of Han’s passing, Samsung’s shares dipped by 0.5%. But they bounced back a bit, and experts say the drop was in line with overall market trends in South Korea.