7 ms·
Samsung CEO Jong-hee Han has died
- lvl155 2y agoApparently he died at his daughter’s wedding. That’s an awful way to go.
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoCould be worse. At least he got to live to see his daughter get married before logging out. I call that a win.
- cinntaile 2y agoWhat a great way to remember your wedding!
- coolThingsFirst 2y agocut him some slack he didn't think that far it's HN.
- netsharc 2y agoBut every wedding anniversary of the daughter will be bittersweet...
- dan_can_code 2y agoA yearly reminder of the most painful and beautiful moments that can happen in a human life. Damn.
- FirmwareBurner 2y agoEveryone dies eventually, it's inevitable, you can't schedule your parents death when it's convenient for you. It's just how it is, and we're all adults, why try to sugarcoat it?
- moandcompany 2y agoI don't know much about his family life, but it's very plausible that he spent more time working during his lifetime than with his family, and this is a good take. Considering the company's state of affairs, I would assume he was under a tremendous amount of work-related stress during the last few years, if not the majority of his career, peaking in this role.
- geodel 2y agoI would assume he would be in work related stress for decades but daughter's wedding preparation, considering how stressful asian weddings are, pushed him over the edge.
- hulitu 2y ago> I don't know much about his family life, but it's very plausible that he spent more time working during his lifetime than with his family Because we all know that CEOs are hard working individuals. Only the developers are lazy. /s
- lqet 2y agoI always shudder at the following: all three brothers of Charlotte Roche [0] were killed in a car crash on their way to her wedding. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Roche https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Roche
- itsoktocry 2y agoJohnny Gaudreau, NHL star, and his brother Matthew were hit and killed by a drunk driver while in New Jersey for their sister's wedding last summer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Gaudreau https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Gaudreau
- gaoryrt 2y agoReasonably speaking, the chance is 1/365, not that low.
- olyjohn 2y agoDo people get married every year or something?
- rm_-rf_slash 2y agoHeart attack at 63. What a shame. Guy worked at the company longer than I’ve been alive and all he has to show for it is an inheritance and obituary. Makes you wonder what we’re working so hard for.
- mathgladiator 2y agoIt's a good question. My home was recently destroyed by fire (not a total loss of dwelling, but 95% of contents due to smoke and water), and I'm quitting tech to accept being a rancher and body builder. I love tech, but tech doesn't love me. So, #yolo on to the next thing.
- avandekleut 2y agoGood luck! Your username suits you.
- mathgladiator 2y agoThanks. I love math, and I regret not being able to usefully use it more. I don't regret leaving academia, but life is a mystery. The next chapter feels... good and right.
- par 2y agowould love to follow your progress if you're going to be publicly blogging it (would be ironic, i know.) Also, really sorry for your loss. Was it the palisades fire?
- mathgladiator 2y agoI thought about doing a youtube channel, honestly. Both as a parody and a progress. It's strange. I will probably get more love for making a video about my future barndo than my tech projects. It was an electrical fire due to a 20 year old wire and an external flood light that has never worked.
- Imustaskforhelp 2y ago
- whycome 2y ago> Based on the notice Samsung published, Han's co-CEO Young-Hyun Jun is now the sole CEO of the company. Jun, who also heads Samsung's semiconductor business, was appointed as Han's co-CEO in November 2024. I guess he had been co-CEO since November. That’s about as smooth of a transition one could hope for? (As far as the company welfare goes.) My thoughts are with his family. An abrupt loss like this must be painful.
- drpossum 2y ago[flagged]
- MattRix 2y ago??
- drpossum 2y ago[flagged]
- School-Cotton 2y ago[flagged]
- makeitdouble 2y agoRegardless of parent's bile, it's kinda hard to avoid Samsung products without living in a cabin in the woods. Don't Apple phones use Samsung displays ? Doesn't the pixel phone use a Samsung processor ? Will you check if it's not Samsung RAM or SSD when buying a computer ? It's just not a company that can be avoided that easily.
- hulitu 2y ago> Regardless of parent's bile, it's kinda hard to avoid Samsung products without living in a cabin in the woods Not everybody is an Apple fan.
- justlikereddit 2y ago[flagged]
- drpossum 2y ago[flagged]
- brink 2y agoIf you're wishing hell on other people, you don't understand hell.
- drpossum 2y ago[flagged]
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dang 2y agoWe've banned this account for posting too many unsubstantive and flamebait comments (not just in this thread but in many others). That's not allowed here—it's not what the site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
- dankobgd 2y ago[flagged]
- toomuchtodo 2y agoRelated: Samsung Electronics Says Co-CEO Han Jong-Hee Has Died at 63 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43466951 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43466951 - Mar 2025 (no comments)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- rickdeckard 2y agoJust for clarification, Samsung has two CEO's: The deceased Han Jong-hee was a Co-CEO and Vice-Chairman, just like Jun Young-hyun who now remains as the sole CEO. This was not a planned transition or coincidence, Samsung usually had 3 parallel CEO's since 2013 and downsized to two CEO's in 2021, all of those being "Vice-Chairman". On top there is still the Samsung Electronics Chairman, Lee Jae-yong...
- yard2010 2y agoI wonder if they had 3 CEOs because the name means 3 stars in korean
- moandcompany 2y agoThe company name of "Samsung" originates from the founder's admiration of Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, known as "keiretsu" and their place in its economy; he hoped that his company would also endure as a shining symbol in the sky, like stars. Mitsubishi means three stars in Japanese language. Samsung the company started as something resembling a dry goods market.
- themaninthedark 2y agoPendant correction: The bishi in Mitsubishi translates more closely to rhombus or diamond.
- swah 2y agoI added this heuristic to my mind "Do not assume you will live until 90" when my dad also passed on his 60s. But he was a smoker. Until then I was thinking all my uncles that died in their 60s was because of heavy drinking (bottle of whisky a day or something)
- piyuv 2y agoI see all these rich-famous people, having all the money for all the best care in the world, dying in 50s-60s and I get more and more anxious.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- norir 2y agoI have the opposite reaction.
- piyuv 2y agoBecause of their stress levels and possible smoking/drinking/drugs? I don’t buy into “yeah they’re rich/famous but that’s a lot of stress” narrative.
- dymk 2y agoIn the case of a CEO of a major South Korean company, I could believe that stress could have contributed to his heart attack. But for specifically the actors/musicians category of the rich and famous, it seems like drugs tends to be a limiting factor on lifespan.
- NooneAtAll3 2y agoI suspect it's more of "the witch is dead/the rich is dead"
- jillyboel 2y agoIf you want to die you don't have to wait for it
- rntksi 2y agoJust a week or so ago, Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong told everyone in Samsung that there's only a "do or die" attitude. https://www.kedglobal.com/leadership-management/newsView/ked202503170002 https://www.kedglobal.com/leadership-management/newsView/ked...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- AzzyHN 2y agoGuess he made his choice
- tartoran 2y agoIf it's a suicide you may be onto something. If died of natural causes though, it's a poor taste joke.
- anotherevan 2y agoProbably in poor taste either way.