Samsung Electronics recently announced the passing of Co-CEO Han Jong-Hee, who died while receiving treatment for cardiac arrest at the age of 63. The company revealed this news in an official statement.
Following this development, Jun Young Hyun, who was appointed co-CEO just last week, will now take on sole leadership responsibilities, according to a filing with regulatory authorities. Previously, Jun was in charge of Samsung’s semiconductor division.
Han Jong-Hee was also the head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung, having joined the company in 1988. His nearly four-decade career saw him play a crucial role in guiding Samsung’s TV business growth, even amid challenging market conditions. In his role, he oversaw both the DX Division and the Digital Appliances Business, significantly contributing to Samsung’s expansion.
Han began his tenure at Samsung by leading the research and development team for the visual display business in 2011. By 2022, he advanced to the position of CEO within one of the globe’s largest electronic device manufacturers, overseeing both consumer electronics and mobile devices divisions.
Samsung, known for its wide range of consumer and industrial electronics, is managed by two CEOs who supervise separate divisions. Nonetheless, the company faces challenges in staying competitive within the artificial intelligence chip market and struggles against Apple in smartphone production.
At a recent shareholder meeting which Han chaired, he advised investors that 2025 would present increased challenges, committing to adapting the company’s global supply chain and manufacturing in response to trade tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump’s administration. During this meeting, Han addressed shareholder concerns regarding the company’s poor stock performance, linked to its delayed response to the burgeoning AI market.
In the semiconductor sector, Samsung trails behind SK Hynix in producing high bandwidth memory chips, essential for AI graphic processing units used by Nvidia and others. Han expressed his regrets to shareholders, apologizing for the company’s inability to meet stock performance expectations and acknowledging the rapid changes in the AI semiconductor market over the past year.
The publication of this report included contributions from Reuters.