Samsung Electronics' top salary last year went to former advisor Kyung Gye-hyun, who stepped down from the semiconductor division. Lee Jeong-bae, a consultant (former head of the memory division) and Choi Si-young, a consultant (former head of the foundry division), followed.
According to the 2024 business report disclosed by Samsung Electronics on the 11th, Advisor Kyung received a total of 8.036 billion won, including a retirement payment of 5.272 billion won, a salary of 1.1888 billion won, and a bonus of 1.453 billion won.
Lee Jeong-bae (former head of the memory division) and Choi Si-young (former head of the foundry division) were found to have received salaries of 6.95 billion won and 6.9 billion won, respectively, making them the highest earners next to Advisor Kyung. This also included retirement payments of 4.114 billion won and 4.154 billion won, respectively.
Excluding retirees, the top salary goes to Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, who received a total of 5.24 billion won, including a salary of 1.671 billion won and a bonus of 3.492 billion won. Noh Tae-moon, head of the mobile experience (MX) division (president), received a total of 5.098 billion won, including a salary of 1.463 billion won and a bonus of 3.525 billion won.
The average salary for employees is 130 million won, which is an increase of 8.3% from the previous year (120 million won). In 2023, the device solutions (DS) institutional sector reported losses due to a semiconductor downturn, resulting in no year-end performance bonuses. However, last year, increased operating profits from the memory sector led most divisions in the DS institutional sector to receive over 14% of their salaries as excess performance incentives (OPI), resulting in a rise in average salaries.
In contrast, the average salary for executives is 671 million won, down 7.58% from the previous year (726 million won). This decrease is attributed to the decision made last year to pay more than 50% of the year-end performance incentives in company stocks at least one year later, leading to a decline in cash payments. In fact, the amount paid in OPI to executives decreased from 86.2 billion won in 2023 to 37.9 billion won in 2024.
As of the end of last year, the number of domestic employees (excluding registered executives) was 129,480, an increase of 4,676 from the previous year (124,804). In particular, the number of employees in the DS institutional sector responsible for the semiconductor business increased by 4,450 compared to the end of the previous year.