Summary

Shin Dong-bin, who succeeded his father, the late Chairman Shin Kyuk-ho, as Chairman of the Group in February 2011, has been an aggressive manager, unlike his conservative father. Through domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offerings (IPOs), and global business expansion, he put the group on a full-fledged growth trajectory. Following the acquisition of Hyundai Petrochemical in 2003 and KP Chemical in 2004, the group acquired Indonesian hypermarket Macro (390 billion won), China Times (730 billion won), and AK Duty Free (80 billion won) in 2008-2009. In the food business, Doosan Liquor BG (now Lotte Liquor, 53 billion won), Kirin (799 billion won), and Dutch chocolate company Gillian (170 billion won) were acquired. These companies more than quadrupled the group’s sales in 10 years and made Lotte the fifth-largest conglomerate.

There were crises for Shin, too. In the late 2010s, one of its main businesses, distribution, stalled amid an unprecedented recession. In 2016, the company pulled out of China due to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Lotte Shopping, in particular, saw its consolidated sales drop from nearly 30 trillion won to less than 20 trillion won. The company also spent “five lost years” due to a management dispute that began in 2015. In 2018, all growth strategies were effectively halted when Shin was detained in court over the state-run farming scandal, and some joint ventures were hit hard during the Japanese boycott.

To prepare for the uncertainty in the distribution industry, Shin set out to secure new businesses. He focused on reducing risk by diversifying the group’s capabilities from retail to the chemical industry. Last year, Lotte identified health and wellness, mobility, and sustainability as the three pillars of the future and announced plans to invest a total of 37 trillion won over five years. This year, it is promoting new businesses under four themes, including the New Life Platform. It seems that the company is accelerating the ‘New Lotte’ in a hurry to make up for the lost five years.

Chairman Shin is also focusing on organizing the relationship with Lotte in Japan to ensure stable governance and improving the group’s image, which has been tarnished by management scandals involving the chaebol family. He has also undertaken a major personnel overhaul, breaking with Lotte’s tradition of nepotism and bringing in outside talent. Shin has also recently accelerated the management lessons of his son, Shin Yoo-yeol, executive vice president of Lotte Chemicals. In August, Shin joined the board of Lotte Financial in Japan, where Shin serves as CEO. The move is seen as a way to support his son’s business studies.

Shin has had a long-standing battle for control with his brother, SDJ Corporation Chairman Shin Dong-joo. Shin has repeatedly tried to return to the helm of Lotte Holdings since Shin Dong-joo sparked a control dispute at Lotte Group in 2016, but has been thwarted at regular shareholder meetings.

Timeline

▲Feb. 14, 1955 = born in Tokyo as the second one among 2 brothers

▲1977 = graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University majoring in Economics

▲1980 = graduated from University of Columbia MBA

▲1981 = entered Nomura Securities London branch

▲1985 = married Ogo Manami from a Japanese aristocratic family

▲1988 = joined LOTTE

▲1990 = joined Honam Petrochemical Corp(now LOTTE Chemical)

▲1995 = appointed to vice president of Planning and Cooperation Office of LOTTE

▲1997 = promoted to vice chairman of Planning and Cooperation Office of LOTTE

▲2004 = appointed to the director of Policy Division of LOTTE

▲2005 = appointed to vice chairman of Korea-Japan Economic Association

▲2008 = appointed to chairman of Asia Society Korea Center

▲2009 = appointed to vice president of LOTTE Holdings

▲Feb. 2011 = appointed to chairman of LOTTE Holdings Korea

▲Jul. 2015 = appointed to CEO of LOTTE Holdings Japan

▲Feb. 2018 = a two-year suspension of a jail sentence with embezzlement and breach of trust. resigned from chairman of LOTTE Holdings Japan

▲Mar. 2020 = appointed to chairman of LOTTE Holdings Japan