Tycoon Lifespans
The average life expectancy of Korean business tycoons has been the talk of the town.
The average life span of the 31 founders and successors of the nation’s top 40 companies is 75.9 years, according to data compiled by Chaebul.com, a corporate information provider on large businesses.
The number of people who passed away in their 70s is 11, which is the highest across various age groups, followed by 9 people who are in their 80s, 5 in their 60s, and three people in their 90s.
The person who lived the longest is Jang Byung-hee, the founder of Young Poong Group, who passed away in 2002 when he was 93 years old. On the other hand, Choi Jong-gun, the founder of SK Group, died in 1973 at the young age of 48, and became the most short-lived head of a conglomerate in the country.
Mr. Lee Kun-hee, the third son of the founder of Samsung Group, took over the company in 1987, when his father, Lee Byung-chul, passed away at the age of 77, owing to old age and the complication of lung cancer.
Netizens responded by saying, “The average life expectancy of Chaebol owners is not that long,” or, “An eccentric examination is done.”