36% of New Leaders Are Born in the 1980s
External Recruits Also Take Center Stage
Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver who marked her first year in office, has put external hires and executives born in the 1980s at the forefront. As the youngest CEO of Naver born in 1981, Choi emphasized a 'leadership generational shift,' actively bringing in young blood as a result.
According to Naver's 2022 business report posted on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 21st, 33 newly appointed executive-level leaders have been appointed since Choi took office. Choi assumed the CEO position on March 14 last year.
Among the newly appointed leaders, 12 were born in the 1980s, accounting for 36%. Of the 131 non-registered executives including responsible leaders, 25 were born in the 1980s, about half of whom were newly appointed after Choi took office. Accordingly, the proportion of executives born in the 1980s also increased, rising from 11% in 2021 just before Choi's appointment to 19% last year.
Among the new executives, 11 were external hires, accounting for 33%. Of these external hires, seven were born in the 1980s. They included experts in the used goods trading platform and global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that Naver is focusing on.
Representative figures include Lee Jae-hoo, head of Naver App services; Park Aenus, financial leader; and Yoon So-yeon, leader of Naver's Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) Plus. Lee, born in 1981, previously worked at the community-based social networking service (SNS) Vingle and the e-commerce platform TMON. Just before joining Naver, he served as CEO of Bungaejangter for two years. Naver acquired Poshmark, North America's largest used goods trading platform combining community and commerce, and chose the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) market as a new growth engine, recruiting an expert in this field.
Park, also born in 1981, joined Naver in July last year and is in charge of global investment and business development partnerships. He is an M&A expert who worked in the investment industry at global consulting firm Bain & Company and global fund manager Fidelity Worldwide Investment. At Naver, he assisted CFO Kim Nam-sun in leading the acquisition of Poshmark.
Yoon, born in 1983, is a former lawyer. She was recruited to Naver after handling M&A advisory at law firm Yulchon. In the ESG organization, she reviews whether Naver's internal and external activities comply with legal standards and fulfill social responsibilities. It is known that CEO Choi, who also graduated from Seoul National University's College of Engineering, Harvard Law School, and Yulchon, personally scouted Yoon.
It is analyzed that CEO Choi has put external hires and young leaders at the forefront to renew leadership. Choi identified leadership generational change and organizational reform as top priorities. This was necessary to improve organizational culture, which was exposed due to workplace harassment issues in 2021, and to discover new growth engines. After taking office, Choi emphasized, "We will actively delegate authority by selecting new talent" and "We will build a differentiated corporate culture and create growth opportunities." An industry insider said, "Since CEO Choi has experience both inside and outside Naver, she is proactive in recruiting external talent," adding, "The appointment of a CEO born in 1981 has injected tension both inside and outside the organization."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
