Samsung Electronics chief quits amid ‘crisis’
THE chief executive of Samsung Electronics has resigned, citing an “unprecedented crisis” around the phone giant.
Kwon Oh-hyun, with the company for 32 years, will step down as chief ex- ecutive and vice-chairman in March.
His exit comes despite Samsung Electronics projecting record quarterly profits. It expected to report revenues of 62 trillion won (£41bn) in the third quarter, up from 47.8 trillion in the same period last year and operating profits of around 14.5 trillion won, compared to 5.2 trillion won a year ago.
The company’s sales are booming thanks to record demand for its microchip and display units and improving sales of its latest smartphones, but it has been hit by a corruption scandal at the highest level. Jay Y Lee, the heir to the Samsung empire, was sentenced to five years in prison in August for bribery and perjury after he was accused of overseeing large payments to foundations run by South Korea’s former president Park Geun-hye.
Mr Lee is vice-chairman of both Samsung Electronics and the wider Samsung conglomerate, which includes interests in property, financial services and healthcare. But the electronics company is its crown jewel.
“As we are confronted with unprecedented crisis inside out, I believe that time has now come for the company start anew, with a new spirit and young leadership to better respond to challenges arising from the rapidly changing IT industry,” Mr Kwon said in a letter to staff.
Samsung did not announce a successor. It technically has three chief executives but the other two, Jong-kyun Shin and Yoon Boo Keun, have stepped back from the day-to-day running of the company.
“The way is open for new blood to take the helm of Samsung and clean up these long-standing issues,” said Richard Windsor, of Edison Investment Research.