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he tragic death of his son in 2004 let
LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-Moo
with two daughters but without a male
heir. So Koo legally adopted Koo Kwang-Mo,
then 26, a younger brother’s only son, and
groomed him to take over someday. Now,
with Bon-Moo’s death from brain cancer last
month, Kwang-Mo is expected to become the
new LG chairman when the board meets June- He was elevated to the board of the hold-
ing company, LG Corp., ater his father died.
Chaebol transitions oten lead to ights,
but a power struggle seems unlikely at LG.
he father, who was 73, owned 11.28% of
LG Corp., and his son holds 6.24%, easily
enough to guarantee Kwang-Mo’s succession.
here’s one complication, however. Another
of Bon-Moo’s younger brothers, Bon-Joon,
66, is vice chairman of both LG Corp. and
LG Electronics and was put in charge during his brother’s
year-long illness. A spokesman says he will continue to “over-
see major operations and lead and direct major management
meetings.” He owns 7.72% of LG Corp.
Kwang-Mo’s experience is rather limited, so his focus at
irst will be shareholder relations—keeping stockholders,
especially the Koo family, happy. Only 40, he’s expected to
grow into the chairman’s job under his uncle’s tutelage. A
graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology in the U.S.,
he has worked for LG Electronics for 12 years and is vice
president of its information-display unit. LG is South Korea’s
fourth-largest chaebol and generated $160 billion in revenue
last year, mostly in chemicals, telecommunications, house-
hold products and electronics. “As a younger executive with
international experience and a solid technical background,
Kwang-Mo may be able to provide the group with the direc-
tion and leadership that will be important for the next two
decades,” says Hank Morris, a longtime inancial-sector ana-
lyst in Seoul. LG stands to proit “as batteries make electric
vehicles and appliances ever more important.”
Koo Bon-Moo was the grandson of Koo In-Hwoi, who
founded Lucky as a chemical company in 1947 and started
Goldstar in electronics 11 years later. His son, Koo Ja-Kyung,
who is now 93, turned the company over to Bon-Moo in - he irst thing Bon-Moo did was change the Lucky
Goldstar name to LG. Annual
revenue was just $30 billion
back then. he group is riding
high these days on sales of TV
sets, smartphones and wash-
ing machines. Although the
founder and his heirs avoided
the temptation to compete in
motor vehicles, LG does have
a stake in the industry, making
batteries and LED lights. It
recently made its costliest acquisition, purchasing ZKW, an
Austrian manufacturer of automotive lights, for $1.5 billion.
Bon-Moo was the oldest of the four Koo brothers, and
they all made the rich list each year. Last year he ranked
13th; his fortune totaled $2.2 billion as of February. The
company hasn’t said how that wealth will be distributed, but
Kwang-Mo and his sisters are expected to inherit all or most
of the LG shares. He ranked 48th on last year’s list with
$720 million but did not make the cutoff this year. The next
Koo brother, Bon-Neung, is the one who gave up Kwang-Mo
for adoption. He chairs Heesung Group, which LG spun off,
and is No. 37 this year, with $1.15 billion. Bon-Joon, the vice
chair, is 45th, at $1 billion, and Bon-Sik, the youngest, is No.
34 at $1.18 billion. —D.K.A Changing of the Guard at LG
KOO BON-MOOKoo Kwang-Mo (right) is expected to take
over after the death of Koo Bon-Moo.SEONGJOON CHO/BLOOMBERG (TOP)