Samsung Names Kwon Oh-hyun as New CEO

Choi Gee-sung has stepped down as Samsung's CEO and Kwon Oh-hyun, head of the company's chip and liquid-crystal-display units, has been named as his successor, reports the WSJ.

Samsung said the leaders of the consumer-product divisions, including TVs and phones, won't report to the new CEO, Kwon Oh-hyun, who has led Samsung's chip business since 2008 and took control of its display-components business last year.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee will play the decisive role when the component and consumer product sides of Samsung conflict. Amid a parade of CEOs, Mr. Lee has long been Samsung's most important executive, wielding considerable influence even when taking a less active role in the company's day-to-day work.


Mr. Kwon will handle "corporatewide affairs" and likely play a bigger role in matters such as litigation with Apple. He joined the company as a chip engineer in 1985 and became a senior executive in the business in 1992.

Mr. Choi will lead an unofficial office from which Samsung asserts control over about 60 affiliated companies through a complex web of investments.

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