Leaders Index revealed that family members serving as top executives in the management of the top 100 domestic conglomerates climb the corporate ladder to become executives in their early to mid-30s. (Image courtesy of Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – On December 6, the business research institute Leaders Index revealed that family members serving as top executives (CEO, Vice Chairman, Chairman) in the management of the top 100 domestic conglomerates, on average, climb the corporate ladder to become executives in their early to mid-30s, subsequently reaching the CEO position within a decade.
After examining the profiles of 199 executives among the 827 family members currently leading the conglomerates on the list of the country’s top 100 in terms of net assets, their average age at the time that they joined the company was 28.9 years.
On average, these executives were promoted to management roles at the age of 34.3, and then ascended to the CEO position at 42.1, approximately 7.8 years later. Among them, 40 individuals were appointed as executives simultaneously upon joining the company. Of this group, 21 had prior managerial experience, while the remaining 19 started as executives without prior experience.
The pace of executive promotions for heirs was faster for the third and fourth generations compared to the second generation. The average period from joining the company to becoming a first-time executive was 4.7 years for the second generation, reaching an executive position at an average age of 34.7. In contrast, the third and fourth generations took an average of 4.1 years, reaching executive positions at an earlier age of 32.8.
From executive roles to the CEO position, the second generation took an average of 7.8 years (42.6 years old), while the third and fourth generations took an average of 8.4 years (41.2 years old). Despite a slightly faster pace for the second generation in reaching the CEO role, the journey from CEO to vice chairman showed that the third and fourth generations took an average of 4.8 years (46 years old), shorter than the second generation’s average of 6.5 years (49.1 years old).
Among the top executives at South Korea’s leading 100 conglomerates, the youngest is Kim Dong-won, who was promoted to CEO of Hanwha Life at the beginning of this year. Born in 1985, Kim is a third-generation leader and the son of Chairman Kim Seung-yeon. Notably, there are five individuals born in the 1980s serving as vice chairmen: Kim Dong-gwan of Hanwha Group (born in 1983), Chung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai (born in 1982), Hong Jung-guk of BGF (born in 1982) and Yang Hong-seok of Daishin Securities (born in 1981). Hong and Jung were recently promoted to their positions in November.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
