Samsung’s co-CEO and vice chairman Han Jong-hee has died of a heart attack at 63.
He was receiving treatment in the hospital for cardiac arrest on Tuesday when he died, a company spokesperson said.
The TV industry expert joined Samsung Electronics Co.’s TV development team in 1988 after receiving his electrical engineering degree from Inha University. He became a key figure in advancing Samsung’s display technology. The company has maintained its position as the No. 1 TV brand in the world for 19 consecutive years.
Han was in charge of Samsung’s consumer electronics and mobile devices division, while another co-CEO Jun Young-hyun oversees the chip business of South Korea’s biggest company.
A successor has not yet been decided.
Han chaired the company’s shareholder meeting last week. Samsung was one of the worst-performing tech stocks last year in a market driven by a boom in investments in the artificial intelligence industry.
Samsung lags behind SK Hynix in HBM chips that Nvidia and others rely on for AI graphic processing units.
“First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for the recent stock performance not meeting your expectations. Over the past year, our company failed to adequately respond to the rapidly evolving AI semiconductor market,” Han said.
He was scheduled to attend Samsung’s launch event for new home appliances on Wednesday.
