There's considerable intrigue about Samsung's management structure. It's understandable why that is. Samsung is a global tech icon that has seen a lot of success over the years. People are curious to find out who is the CEO of Samsung that has led its incredible rise?
In most major conglomerates it's easy to find out who's the person at the very top. Things are a bit different at Samsung. It also stems from the fact that Samsung is a Korean company and a chaebol. That's Korean for a family-owned conglomerate.
The Samsung Group is the parent company under which its businesses function as separate entities. For example, Samsung Engineering has its own chain of command and so does Samsung Biologics.
Since it's a chaebol, the person at the very top would be a member of the Lee family that founded Samsung. It used to be Lee Kun-hee. Despite being left incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014, he retained his title as the Chairman of Samsung Group.
His son Lee Jae-yong was appointed as the Vice Chairman in 2012. The move was widely seen as the start of his grooming process to eventually succeed his father as chairman. Lee Jae-yong has served as the conglomerate's de-facto leader since his father's incapacitation.
Lee Kun-hee passed away in October 2020. Lee Jae-yong would eventually be named as the Chairman of the Samsung Group. That would formally make him the person at the very top of the conglomerate, a role he has already been exercising without the title.
So, who is the CEO of Samsung?
When most people think of Samsung, it's not the parent company they're talking about, it's Samsung Electronics. This is the division of the conglomerate that makes the products that billions of people use across the globe daily. These include smartphones, tablets, wearable devices, TVs, monitors, semiconductors and more.
Samsung Electronics is headquartered in Korean city of Suwon. It has subsidiaries across the globe that have their own leadership teams. However, it's the HQ in South Korea that sits at the top.
The HQ previously had one person in the CEO role as most companies do. Since 2018, it has adopted a three-CEO layout. Currently, the three co-CEOs of Samsung Electronics are Kim Ki-nam, Kim Hyun-suk and Koh Dong-jin.
Each subsidiary of the HQ has its own leadership team. For example, Samsung Electronics North America has Choi Kyung-sik as the CEO. Similarly, Hadrian Baumann is the CEO of Samsung Electronics (UK) Ltd.
It's the three co-CEOs at the HQ in South Korea that lead Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the Samsung Group conglomerate.
