The management dispute at Ourhome appears to be reigniting. The eldest daughter of the late Chairman Gu Jahak, Gu Mihyun, has joined forces with her elder brother, former Vice Chairman Gu Bonseong, resulting in Vice Chairman Gu Jieun stepping down from her position as an inside director.
According to industry sources on the 18th, Ourhome held a closed shareholders' meeting on the 17th at its headquarters in Magok District, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, where a shareholder proposal to appoint Gu Mihyun and her husband, former Hanyang University Medical School professor Lee Youngryeol, as inside directors was approved. On the other hand, the proposal to appoint about ten inside directors, including Vice Chairman Gu Jieun, was all rejected. Gu Jieun's term is until June.
(From left) Koo Bon-sung, former Vice Chairman of Ourhome, and Koo Ji-eun, Vice Chairman of Ourhome.
Ourhome, a non-listed company, currently has over 98% of its shares held by the four siblings. The eldest son, former Vice Chairman Gu Bonseong, owns 38.56%, the youngest daughter Gu Jieun owns 20.67%, the eldest daughter Gu Mihyun owns 19.28%, and the second daughter Gu Myeongjin owns 19.6% respectively.
Previously, former Vice Chairman Gu Bonseong was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year probation for retaliatory driving and was dismissed from his CEO position in June 2021. However, he continued to have conflicts with his younger sister, Vice Chairman Gu, engaging in legal battles.
With this shareholders' meeting, the management dispute among Ourhome's children has shifted from a confrontation between the three sisters and the eldest son to a battle between the eldest son and eldest daughter, Gu Bonseong and Gu Mihyun, and the second and third daughters, Gu Myeongjin and Gu Jieun. Earlier, in 2017, Gu Mihyun sided with Vice Chairman Gu Jieun regarding the appointment of a professional manager, and in 2021, she resolved the dismissal of former Vice Chairman Gu Bonseong from the CEO position. However, the following year, she changed her stance again by signing a joint agreement with former Vice Chairman Gu Bonseong's side to jointly exercise all shareholder meeting agendas.
Ourhome is expected to hold another extraordinary shareholders' meeting soon. Companies with capital of 1 billion KRW or more must have at least three inside directors. In this shareholders' meeting, only two inside directors, Gu Mihyun and her husband, were confirmed, and the agenda to approve the limit on directors' remuneration was not passed.
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