Late Chairman's Son Takes Hanjin Group's Helm
Cho Won-tae, chairman of Hanjin KAL, has been confirmed as Hanjin Group’s next chairman.
Hanjin Group announced on May 13 that it filed a formal application with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to change the group’s chairman from the late Cho Yang-ho to his son Cho Won-tae.
Analysts say that the submission of the application to the FTC would eliminate the possibility of sibling rivalry over the group’s control among Cho Won-tae and his two sisters, Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, and Cho Hyun-min, former senior managing director of Korean Air.
"Hanjin Group submitted an application to change the group’s chairman and related documents in the afternoon of May 13," an FTC official said. “We will announce the heads of large business groups in Korea, including Hanjin Group, as scheduled on May 15."
Earlier, Hanjin Group failed to meet the May 8 deadline for submitting the application form to confirm the change of the group’s leader. This invited speculation that a dispute over the group’s control erupted among the three children of the late chairman Cho Yang-ho.
The late chairman held a 17.84 percent stake (based on common stocks) in Hanjin KAL, the group’s holding company. Cho Won-tae holds 2.34 percent in Hanjin KAL, not much difference from Cho Hyun-ah’s 2.31 percent and Cho Hyun-min’s 2.30 percent. The new chairman needs to inherit the late father’s shareholdings to defend his control from KGCI, an activist private equity fund that holds a 14.98 percent stake.