| LG Corporation | |
| Former Name: | Lucky (1947-1983) Lucky-Goldstar (1983–1995) |
| Native Name: | 주식회사 엘지 |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Type: | Public |
| Industry: | Conglomerate |
| Founded: | (as Lucky-Goldstar) (as LG) |
| Founder: | Koo In-hwoi |
| Hq Location City: | Seoul |
| Hq Location Country: | South Korea |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Revenue: | KRW 83.5 trillion (approx. US$62.32 billion) (2023)[1] |
| Num Employees: | 222,000 (2023) |
LG Corporation (or LG Group), formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar, is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is the fourth-largest Korean: [[chaebol]] (family-run conglomerate) in South Korea. Its headquarters are in the LG Twin Towers building in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul.[2] LG makes electronics, chemicals, household appliances, and telecommunications products and operates subsidiaries such as LG Electronics, Zenith, LG Display, LG Uplus, LG Innotek, LG Chem, and LG Energy Solution in over 80 countries.
LG Corporation was established as Lak Hui Chemical Industrial Corp. in 1947 by Koo In-hwoi.[3] In 1952, Lak Hui (락희) (pronounced "Lucky"; now LG Chem) became the first South Korean company to enter the plastics industry. As the company expanded its plastics business, it established GoldStar Co. Ltd. (now LG Electronics Inc.) in 1958. Both companies Lucky and GoldStar merged to form Lucky-Goldstar in 1983.[4]
GoldStar produced South Korea's first radio.[4] Many consumer electronics were sold under the brand name GoldStar, while some other household products (not available outside South Korea) were sold under the brand name of Lucky. The Lucky brand was famous for hygiene products such as soaps and HiTi laundry detergents, but the brand was mostly associated with its Lucky and Perioe toothpaste. LG continues to manufacture some of these products for the South Korean market.
Koo In-hwoi led the corporation until his death in 1969, at which time, his son Koo Cha-kyung took over. He then passed the leadership to his son, Koo Bon-moo, in 1995. Koo Bon-moo renamed the company to LG in that year.[4] The company then trademarked the letters LG with the company's tagline "Life's Good". Since 2009, LG has owned the domain name LG.com.
Koo Bon-moo died of a brain tumor on 20 May 2018.[5] In July 2018, it was announced that Koo Kwang-mo, the nephew and adopted son of Koo Bon-moo, will be the new CEO of LG. Koo Bon-moo adopted his nephew in 2004, after losing his only son in 1994,[6] citing "a family tradition of male-only succession".[7]
The G-E-F-D-E-C-C' jingle was produced by Musikvergnuegen and written by Walter Werzowa (who had previously composed the Intel bong) in 2008. The jingle has been featured in LG commercials and devices and is recognised worldwide.
LG Corporation is a holding company that operates worldwide through more than 30 companies in the electronics, chemical, and telecom fields. Its electronics subsidiaries manufacture and sell products ranging from electronic and digital home appliances to televisions and mobile telephones, from thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal displays to security devices and semiconductors. In the chemical industry, subsidiaries manufacture and sell products including cosmetics, industrial textiles, rechargeable batteries and toner products, polycarbonates, medicines, and surface decorative materials. Its telecom products include long-distance and international phone services, mobile and broadband telecommunications services, as well as consulting and telemarketing services. LG also operates the Coca-Cola Korea Bottling Company, manages real estate, offers management consulting, and operates professional sports clubs.[8]
LG and Hitachi created joint ventures named Hitachi-LG Data Storage in 2000 and LG Hitachi Water Solutions in 2011; among other partnerships it has had, LG has a long relationship with Hitachi dating back to the early years of Goldstar. Since then Hitachi has transferred technologies for LG's products such as radios, wires, TVs, home appliances, semiconductors, etc. The first joint venture between the two is LG Hitachi, which has been around since 1980s when it was established to import computers to Korea.[9]
LG had two joint ventures with Royal Philips Electronics: LG Philips Display and LG Philips LCD, but Philips sold off its shares in late 2008.[10]
In 2005, LG entered into a joint venture with Nortel Networks, creating LG-Nortel Co. Ltd.
In 2020, LG and Canadian auto supplier Magna International launched a joint venture known as LG Magna e-Powertrain. The new joint venture will manufacture components used in electric cars such as electric motors, inverters and onboard chargers.[11]
LG owns the South Korean professional baseball team LG Twins, and is the main sponsor of basketball team Changwon LG Sakers. LG is also a partner of the American professional baseball team Texas Rangers.[12]
LG also sponsored football clubs Girondins de Bordeaux from 1999 to 2000, Leicester City F.C. from 2001 to 2003, Olympique Lyonnais from 2004 to 2006, AEK Athens from 2006 to 2009, Fulham F.C. from 2007 to 2010 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen from 2013 to 2016.