Samsung co-CEO Han Jong-hee, 63, passes away after heart attack

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday that co-CEO Han Jong-hee passed away from a heart attack, leaving newly-appointed CEO Jun Young-hyun in sole charge of the company. This leadership change comes at a critical time as Samsung is revamping its struggling chip business and dealing with global trade uncertainties.

Han, aged 63, became CEO of South Korea’s largest company in 2022, overseeing its consumer electronics and mobile devices divisions. He was also a board member.

Jun, who was promoted in 2024 to head the semiconductor division, was appointed co-CEO just last week during Samsung’s annual shareholders’ meeting. This division has been lagging behind rivals like SK Hynix and TSMC in the competitive global artificial intelligence (AI) chip market.

Samsung, in a stock exchange filing, confirmed that Jun would now be the sole CEO following Han’s passing.

On Tuesday, Samsung’s shares fell by 0.5 per cent, reflecting the broader downturn in the South Korean market. The company, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, has been grappling with weak earnings and a declining share price. It has struggled to keep pace with competitors in advanced memory chips and contract chip manufacturing, both of which have seen strong demand due to the AI boom.

Additionally, Samsung has lost its position as the top smartphone seller to Apple.

Han passed away in hospital on Tuesday while being treated for cardiac arrest, according to a Samsung spokesperson. The company has not yet decided on his successor. Samsung traditionally operates under a co-CEO structure, with leadership responsibilities divided between its consumer electronics and semiconductor divisions.

According to Reuters, Han joined Samsung nearly 40 years ago and rose through the ranks in the television business. “Han was instrumental in making Samsung a global leader in the TV industry,” said an unnamed analyst, citing the sensitive nature of the issue.

The analyst added that Han’s sudden death might have long-term implications on the company’s business strategy, especially in areas like marketing. It could also impact Samsung’s efforts to boost the performance of its home appliance division, particularly as it faces challenges like tariffs and escalating trade tensions.

Challenging year ahead

At last week’s shareholders’ meeting, which Han chaired, he informed investors that 2025 would be a difficult year for Samsung. He indicated that the company would adopt a flexible approach to dealing with US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, utilising its global supply chain and manufacturing network.

During the meeting, Han and other executives faced tough questions from shareholders about Samsung’s underperformance in the AI sector, which contributed to it becoming one of the worst-performing tech stocks last year. In the semiconductor business, Samsung lags behind SK Hynix in producing high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are crucial for AI graphic processing units (GPUs) used by Nvidia and others.

“I sincerely apologise for the recent stock performance not meeting your expectations. Over the past year, we failed to respond swiftly to the rapidly evolving AI semiconductor market,” Han said during the meeting.

Han had been scheduled to attend a Samsung event to launch new home appliances on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, sources have indicated that Samsung is seeking to expand its presence in the automotive electronics market as part of its efforts to drive new growth.

Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee, currently in China to attend the China Development Forum, was reportedly visiting Xiaomi’s car factory in Beijing and BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen, according to posts on Chinese social media and local media reports. Samsung declined to comment on Lee’s trip.

Lee has been embroiled in legal battles and scandals over the past decade, particularly following his father Lee Kun-hee’s heart attack in 2014. Although Jay Y. Lee was cleared of charges related to his succession of the family-owned conglomerate in February, prosecutors have appealed the decision.