This image produced by Yonhap News TV shows the logos of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the Korea Enterprise Federation superimposed over a view of downtown Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly half of the chief executives of the leading 500 firms in South Korea are in their 60s, a survey showed Wednesday.
According to the survey conducted by CEO Lab, a corporate research organization, on the age of CEOs of the top 500 companies, the average age of a total of 670 figures stood at 59.7 as of January, compared with 58.6 as of the end of 2020.
Those in their 60s accounted for 49 percent, rising 13.1 percentage points from 2020 to represent the largest age bracket among the CEOs. Those in their 50s, meanwhile, fell to 38.5 percent from 50.6 percent three years ago.
The proportion of CEOs in their 40s and 30s also fell to 6.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, while those in their 70s and 80s inched up to 4.3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
The youngest CEO was Nathan Michael Chuang, 36, of AIA Life Insurance Co., and the oldest was Lee Sang-eun, 91, of auto parts company DAS Corp.
The proportion of CEOs with a background in professional management stood at 83.4 percent, up 1.6 percentage points, while those from owner families fell to 16.6 percent from 18.2 percent three years ago.
The rate of female executives stood at 2.4 percent, up from 2 percent at the end of 2020, the survey showed.
(Yonhap)
