Chung Mong-koo (born March 19, 1938, in Kangwon Province) is a South Korean businessman. He is the honorary chairman and former CEO of

Hyundai Motor Group The Hyundai Motor Group (HMG; ; ; stylized as HYUΠDAI) is a South Korean ''chaebol'' (loosely similar to a multinational conglomerate but without a central holding company or ownership structure) headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The HMG ...

, Korea's second largest chaebol that manages 54 subsidiaries including

Hyundai Motor Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...

Kia Motors Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

, and

Hyundai Steel Hyundai Steel Co., Ltd, or HSC (formerly known as HYU, and Crab Iron & Steel Co., Ltd.) is a steel making company headquartered in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, and a member of the Hyundai Motor Group. It manufactures a wide variety of produc ...

. He started his career in 1970, joining the engineering & construction division of the group. Chung succeeded his father,

Chung Ju-yung Chung Ju-yung or Jung Joo-young (; November 25, 1915 – March 21, 2001), was a South Korean entrepreneur, businessman and the founder of Hyundai Groups, one of the largest chaebols in South Korea. Raised as the eldest son of a poor Korean far ...

, the founder of the conglomerate known as the Hyundai Group. When the conglomerate split into several parts in 1999, Chung Mong-koo took over the Hyundai Motor division. He is the eldest surviving son of Chung Ju-yung's eight sons. He was convicted of

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a typ ...

and breach of

fiduciary duty A fiduciary is a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with one or more other parties (person or group of persons). Typically, a fiduciary prudently takes care of money or other assets for another person. One party, for exampl ...

in February 2007, but was given a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

and was fully pardoned by President Lee Myung-bak.

Education

* Graduated, Kyungbock High School * Bachelor of Science in

industrial engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information an ...

Hanyang University Hanyang University (Korean: 한양대학교) is a private research university in South Korea. The main campus is located in Seoul and its satellite campus, the Education Research Industry Cluster (ERICA campus), is in Ansan. ''Hanyang'' (한양 ...

Professional experience

* 2020–present: Honorary Chairman of

Co. &

Corp. * 2000–2020: Chairman & CEO of

Co. &

Corp. * 1996–1998: Chairman of

Hyundai Group Hyundai Group (; ) is a South Korean conglomerate founded by Chung Ju-yung. The first company in the group was founded in 1947 as a construction company. With government assistance, Chung and his family members rapidly expanded into various i ...

* 1987–1998: CEO, Hyundai Motor Service * 1986: CEO, Incheon Iron & Steel * 1981: CEO, Hyundai Pipe * 1977: CEO, Hyundai Precision & Industry * 1970: started his career by joining Hyundai Engineering & Construction He also owns INNOCEAN Worldwide, an ad &

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...

agency, with his eldest daughter Chung Sung-yi.

Management

Chung is described as a "vigorous septuagenarian" who comes to work at 6:30 a.m. and "personally heads monthly quality reviews with senior executives". Although he only holds 5.2% of Hyundai Motor’s stock, Chung "wields disproportionately strong control" and is able to control its board thanks to a complex corporate governance arrangements in which Hyundai Motor owns 34% of Kia, which owns 16.9% of Mobis, which in turn owns 20.8% of Hyundai Motor. This means that "because the companies essentially control each other, no outside shareholder is strong enough to name board members".

Controversies

2007 embezzlement conviction

In 2006, he and his family were targeted by the

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

Supreme Prosecutor's Office as part of an investigation into embezzling 100 billion won ($106 million) from Hyundai to create

slush fund A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...

s to bribe officials. Despite a travel ban, Chung left South Korea in April 2006. Chung was arrested on 28 April 2006 on charges related to embezzlement and other corruption. On 5 February 2007 he was convicted of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty for selling securities to his son

Chung Eui-sun Chung Eui-sun (born 18 October 1970), also spelled Euisun Chung, is a South Korean billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of Hyundai Motor Group and the only son and "heir apparent" of Hyundai Motor Group honorary chairman Chung Mong-koo. ...

at below-market prices. He was sentenced to three years in prison. Chung remained free on bail while he appealed the sentence. On September 6, 2007, Chief Judge Lee Jae-hong ruled to suspend the sentence of Chung Mong-koo (in consideration of the huge economic impact of imprisonment), ordering instead of a 3-year jail term, community service and a $1 billion donation to charity. The trial was seen as "a victory for transparency and

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

in South Korea", but on August 15, 2008, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak granted him a special pardon to allow Chung to continue to contribute to the development of Hyundai Motor Group as well as the Korean economy.

Nepotism

His only son

is his "heir apparent", despite his relatively unproven business and leadership skills. According to Bloomberg, "no one can assess how Eui Sun will perform when he becomes chairman because his father keeps him on a tight leash". Furthermore, in 2011, he was accused of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

when Ozen, a bakery cafe whose advisors included his three daughters Sung-yi, Myung-yi, and Yun-yi, set up shop in company buildings. Ozen eventually closed in 2012.

Awards and honors

* 2020:

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

* 2009: James A. Van Fleet Award, The Korea Society * 2008–present: Honorary Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the

Expo 2012 Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea () was an International Exposition recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) held in Yeosu, South Korea which opened May 12, 2012 and ran until August 12, 2012. The theme of the Expo was "The Living Oc ...

Yeosu Yeosu (; ''Yeosu-si''), historically also Yosu, and known to the Japanese as Reisui during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule, is a city located on the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula in South Jeolla Province, South Korea an ...

* 2001: Awarded Distinguished Service Citation by

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

’s

* 1997–present: Honorary Vice President of

World Archery Federation The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 nationa ...

* 1986–1997: Chairman of Asia Archery Association * 1985–1997: Chairman of Korea Archery Association

Family

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Mong-koo 1938 births People from Seoul Living people South Korean businesspeople South Korean chairpersons of corporations South Korean billionaires Hyundai Motor Group Hyundai people Kyungbock High School alumni South Korean fraudsters People convicted of embezzlement Hanyang University alumni Recipients of South Korean presidential pardons