Chipmakers cut executive pay on lukewarm sales

Automotive, battery firm CEOs score hefty incentives

Samsung Electronics office in southern Seoul (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)

Top executives of South Korean conglomerates witnessed ups and downs in their paychecks in the first half of the year, with the semiconductors industry suffering the most drastic cuts due to lukewarm earnings, according to their half-year salary reports Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the nation’s top two chipmakers, are considered among the highest-paying companies here. But their top executives suffered 20 to 30 percent cuts in their compensation amid a global downturn in chip sales.

Samsung’s former semiconductors chief Kyung Kye-hyun, who was replaced in May, was paid 730 million won ($537,000) for the first half of the year, down from 954 million won a year prior. Incentives were removed based on the company’s sluggish sales last year. Lee Jung-bae, the Samsung president who oversees the memory chip business, also received a reduced paycheck of 610 million won, a 25 percent on-year cut.

SK hynix Vice Chairman Park Jung-ho took home 3.17 billion won in the first half, which compared to 5.05 billion won last year. His paycheck included compensation from SK Square, where he served as vice chairman until March this year.

Although the two chipmakers are seeing their profits recover this year, executive paychecks appear to have been hit hard by the companies’ severe operating losses last year. In 2023, Samsung posted over 14 trillion won in operating losses in chip sales alone, while SK hynix suffered losses of 7.73 trillion won.

Compensation for Samsung executives overseeing home appliance and mobile businesses remained nearly flat in the first half of the year.

Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, one of the co-CEOs in charge of the home appliance and mobile device businesses, received 1.12 billion won, slightly down from last year’s 1.18 billion won. Executive President Roh Tae-moon, the mobile business chief, was paid 1.09 billion won, almost 200 million more than a year ago.

On the other side of the coin, automotive and battery sectors, buoyed by their best earnings last year, compensated top executives with hefty incentives.

Former LG Energy Solution CEO Kwon Young-soo, who resigned late last year, received 3.52 billion won, up 33.4 percent from a year ago, as he led the growth momentum of the nation’s top battery maker for electric vehicles. His successor, CEO Kim Dong-myung, received 1.05 billion won.

Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho took home 1.29 billion won, a jump from last year’s 719 million won. Despite slowing demand for electric vehicles, Samsung SDI posted record sales last year, led by more profitable value-added products.

Hyundai Motor, the nation’s largest carmaker, which hit record operating profits last year, paid CEO Chang Jae-hoon 709 million won, roughly flat from last year, while Global Chief Operating Officer Jose Munoz was paid 1.24 billion won.

Among the leaders of the top four chaebol groups, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has not received a salary since 2017, when he announced a corporate revamp to enhance transparency in management.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won received a total of 3 billion won from SK hynix and SK Inc., the group’s holding unit.

Hyundai Motor Group Chair Chung Eui-sun took home 3.71 billion won, about 532 million won more than last year. His compensation came from Hyundai Motor and its parts affiliate Hyundai Mobis.

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo received 5.8 billion won, including yearly incentives.

By Jo He-rim(herim@heraldcorp.com)