Jae-Geun Lee named candidate for next KB Financial Group Inc. chairman... Yang Jong-hee fails to secure reappointment, a 'major upset'

[Financial News] Jae-Geun Lee, Head of KB Financial Group Inc., has been recommended as the candidate for the next Chairman of KB Financial Group Inc. The reappointment of current Chairman Yang Jong-hee, who led the company to record-breaking performance, has been thwarted.
The KB Financial Group Inc. Chairman Candidate Recommendation Committee announced on the 11th that it held a meeting and selected Jae-Geun Lee, Head of KB Financial Group Inc.'s business division, as the final candidate for the next chairman. At the meeting, in-depth interviews lasting two hours were conducted with each of the three candidates shortlisted on the 27th of last month: Kwon Kwang-seok, former CEO of Woori Bank; Yang Jong-hee, Chairman of KB Financial Group Inc.; and Jae-Geun Lee, Head of KB Financial Group Inc.'s business division.
The Nominating Committee members thoroughly verified and evaluated the candidates based on the five categories and 25 detailed criteria stipulated in the qualifications for the chairman, including work experience and expertise, leadership, morality, sharing of KB Financial Group Inc.'s vision and values, and efforts toward sound management in the short and long term. Subsequently, through a final vote, they reached a consensus that Division Head Jae-Geun Lee is the right person with the suitable qualities and capabilities to serve as the next chairman.
Division Head Lee is scheduled to be formally appointed as Chairman through an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on November 20, following recommendations from the Nominating Committee and the Board of Directors on the 2nd of next month. The Chairman's term will be three years, starting from November 21.
Division Head Jae-Geun Lee is regarded as a well-prepared executive who has accumulated diverse experience in key core functions within the group, including finance, strategy, global operations, and wealth management (WM). He joined Housing and Commercial Bank in 1993 and, after serving as the Head of Financial Planning and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the holding company, took the lead in diversifying the group's non-banking portfolio by spearheading the acquisitions of LIG Insurance Co., Ltd., Hyundai Securities, and Woori Financial.
Given that Chairman Yang's reappointment was widely predicted, the industry views this result as an "unexpected upset."
This is because Chairman Yang has been credited with achieving record-breaking performance consecutively and leading the diversification of the revenue structure during his tenure. KB Financial Group Inc. entered the "5 Trillion Won Club" for the first time in history in 2024, recording a net profit of 5.0782 trillion won. Last year, it broke its record again with a net profit of 5.843 trillion won. In the first half of this year as well, it recorded a net profit of 3.8846 trillion won, achieving an all-time high for a half-year period.

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