BusinessMar 25, 2025
Samsung Electronics Co-CEO Passes — It Couldn’t Come At A More Precarious Time for the Chipmaker
Leadership Crisis
Noah Weidner
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Waning market share, widespread layoffs, and weak profits — this isn’t Intel, but rather, Samsung. South Korea’s largest company hasn’t been doing well in the last few months — with its stock down more than 25% over the past year. And recent momentum has been cracked by the passing of one of the company’s top leaders.
Forward-looking: Samsung’s unusually weak performance comes despite a broader rally in the country’s walled-off equities market. It’s arguably holding back the KOSPI Composite Index, which has rallied 9% to start the year — led higher in part by competitor SK Hynix (+20% YTD). These two stocks represent over a third of the US-traded MSCI South Korea ETF. However, other Korean titans are doing one better — E-Mart (+26%), Hybe (+23%), and Hyundai Corporation (+22%).
