On Monday, Samsung Group unveiled its latest yearly promotions, which were said by The Wall Street Journal as normally low-key. However, one promotion popped out - Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's daughter was promoted as a division president at the Group's holding company.
Lee Seo-hyun, one of Lee's daughters, would be helming a division at Samsung Everland Inc, which is controlled by the family. Aside from operating an amusement park, Everland is also used historically as a key investment vehicle to maintain the Lee family's control in around 80 affiliates of the Samsung Group.
The Group currently acts as a control center for major management decisions, but was said to be not a legal entity. Its yearly reshuffle of management, said to be announced over the course of several days, includes the transition and promotion of various senior executives to jobs.
The Journal said the promotion was an indication that Samsung is taking one of the many incremental steps for the elder Lee to pass his powers to Seo-hyun and his two other children, son Jay Y and daughter Boo-jin. The elder Lee and his children had a combined ownership stake of 46% in Everland as per end of September, with Boo-jin and Seo-hyun owning 8.37% each. Boo-jin is currently holding an executive position in Everland.
The Journal pointed out that the appointment of Seo-hyun followed affiliate Cheil Industries Inc's recent decision to exit from its fashion business and sell it to Everland for KRW1.05 trillion or USD992 million. Cheil had stated that the company will be focusing on creating materials and chemicals used in electronic devices. Cheil was established in 1954 as a textile firm in Gumi, South Korea.
Jay was promoted as Samsung Electronics vice chairman around the same time last year, which was seen as an incremental step towards his eventual promotion as head of the biggest smartphone maker in the world.
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