LG boss Koo Bon Moo, who built the global brand over 23 years dies

Koo Bon-moo, the chairman of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate who transformed a local producer of cheap appliances into a global tech and chemical powerhouse over two decades, has died. He was 73.

Koo died Sunday at 9:52 a.m. Seoul time as he opted not to be on life support after being ill for over a year, according to LG Group in an emailed statement.

The patriarch is expected to be succeeded by his adopted son, Koo Kwang-mo, 40, who was nominated to the board of LG Corp. on Thursday pending the approval of shareholders on June 29. Chairman Koo underwent multiple brain surgeries in recent years, Yonhap News Agency reported earlier.

In the 23 years since Koo was chairman, total sales at LG Group increased more than five times to 160 trillion won ($148 billion) in 2017 from 30 trillion won in late 1994. Overseas sales jumped tenfold to 110 trillion won in the same period.

“Chairman Koo is the one who built the foundation of LG’s global businesses, which span batteries to OLED panels and telecom,” said Park Ju-gun, president at corporate research firm CEOScore.