5 January 1947; 77 years ago (1947-01-05) (as Lucky) January 1983; 41 years ago (1983-01) (as Lucky-Goldstar) 4 January 1995; 29 years ago (1995-01-04) (as LG)
LG Corporation, Inc. was established as Lak Hui Chemical Industrial Corp. in 1947 by Koo In-hwoi.[4] 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.[5]
GoldStar produced South Korea's first radio.[5] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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,[7] citing "a family tradition of male-only succession".[8]
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.[citation needed]
Logo history
4 January 1995–29 December 2014
2008–29 December 2014
30 December 2014–present
May 2023–present (secondary)
Businesses
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.[10]
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.[11]
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.[13]
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.[14]
^회사소개 | LG히다찌 주식회사 | 연혁 [About the Company | LG Hitachi Co., Ltd. | History]. lghitachi.co.kr (in Korean). n.d. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021.