Koo Cha-kyung


Koo Cha-kyung was a South Korean business executive. He was the chairman of LG Group from 1970 until his retirement in 1995. He took the company public in 1970 and was chairman during the company’s growth from 26 billion won to 30 trillion won.

Life

Koo was born 24 April 1925 in Jinju, Korea to Koo In-Hwoi, who went on to found GoldStar and Lak Hui Chemical Industrial Corp, a plastics manufacturer and, later, a producer of toiletries.
Koo began his career at Lak Hui where he managed production lines for 20 years. The elder Koo retired in 1970 and turned the company over to his son as chairman. He took the company public that year, the first privately held firm to go public.
During his tenure, the company’s revenue increased significantly as it expanded globally across Asia, Europe and North America. In 1995, Koo Cha-kyung retired from the company and turned it over to his son, Koo Bon-moo.
Koo Cha-kyung died on 14 December 2019 at the age of 94.