When companies wobble, owners come back: KleanNara, Cuchen and Eduwill's return to founder control

When earnings weaken and growth stalls, some companies pull their owners back to the helm, taking the baton from the professional managers they had trusted to run the business. Proponents say owner-led management cuts decision-making layers and allows long-term investment to be pushed through. Critics warn that the checks on poor judgment can weaken at the same time. That tension is why a fresh wave of "owner returns" at mid-sized Korean companies is drawing attention.

KleanNara's third-generation owner Choi Hyun-su resumed the role of chief executive in August, according to industry sources. Choi had stepped down as CEO when he was named chairman last December, but returned to the top executive post on Aug. 11 — roughly eight months later. The company now operates under a co-CEO structure in which Choi oversees business, finance and procurement, while co-CEO Lee Dong-yeol handles the Cheongju factory and human resources. The company said the management restructuring was intended to accelerate decision-making and execution and to translate its medium- to long-term growth strategy into tangible results.

The move is widely seen as a response to deteriorating earnings. KleanNara posted sales of 508.2 billion won ($371 million) and an operating loss of 22.6 billion won in 2025, marking three consecutive years of operating losses since 2023. A downturn in the white paperboard market, compounded by intensifying competition in the household goods segment, weighed on results. The company recorded an operating loss of about 3.3 billion won in the first half of this year as well.

Under Choi's leadership, KleanNara is pushing beyond its core toilet paper and hygiene products. In July the company entered the detergent market with three laundry capsule products and a dishwasher tablet, and in August it launched industrial wipes and hand sanitizers targeting hospitals and hotels under its B2B brand KleanNara PRO. The company is also expanding overseas. In the United States, it has begun supplying its toilet paper brand Sunsu Soft through a local distributor, and it jointly developed an organic cotton cover sanitary pad exclusively for the US market with American health products company MaryRuth's.

Cuchen made a similar choice. Lee Jung-hee, the third-generation owner of Bubang Group, took office as Cuchen's CEO in April, shifting the company from a professionally managed structure to owner-led management. Shortly after taking office, he unveiled a "Vision 2026" declaration at the Cheonan factory, placing new growth drivers and stronger product competitiveness at the center of the agenda.

The earnings picture has been difficult. Cuchen posted sales of 273 billion won and operating profit of 9.8 billion won in 2016, but sales shrank to 150 billion won in 2025. Operating profit last year came to 2.37 billion won, down 40 percent from the previous year. First-quarter sales this year fell to 37.9 billion won, down 7.7 percent from 40.8 billion won in the same period a year earlier. That puts revenue at roughly half the level of a decade ago. The slowdown in the rice cooker market alone does not fully explain the decline. While rivals expanded into rental services and home appliances, Cuchen remained comparatively dependent on rice cookers.

Since Lee took the helm, Cuchen has been moving quickly to broaden its product lineup beyond rice cookers. Its "Vision 2030" plan, announced in April, set a target of more than doubling sales by 2030 and positioned the company as a smart kitchen solutions provider. New products have followed in rapid succession: an induction cooktop in May, a food waste processor called Zero Fit in July, four new refrigerator models in August, and both steam and ultrasonic humidifiers in September. The trajectory points clearly toward expanding from rice cookers into kitchen appliances and then into broader home appliances.

There are cases where an owner's return has translated into real earnings improvement. At education company Eduwill, founder Yang Hyung-nam came back in 2023 and restructured the business portfolio and cost base. Sales eased to about 82.6 billion won in 2024, but the company swung to a profit with operating income of 4.9 billion won. Last year it recorded sales of 82.3 billion won, operating profit of 6.4 billion won and net profit of 3.8 billion won — a second consecutive year in the black. It is a case where a strategy that prioritized profitability over top-line growth showed up in the numbers.

Under Yang's leadership, Eduwill is restructuring its business to reduce reliance on exam-preparation education. The new growth pillars in its "Eduwill Vision 2036," unveiled this year, are AI, senior learners and global expansion. The plan is to leverage the content and membership base built through its existing civil service and professional certification programs while broadening its target audience to include middle-aged adults seeking reemployment, corporate clients and overseas talent. In AI, the company is expanding curricula for teachers and job seekers, and is pursuing corporate AI training and digital transformation consulting as separate new businesses.

An owner's return is no guarantee of a turnaround, however. Woongjin Group Chairman Yoon Suk-keum offers a cautionary example. In the course of rebuilding the group, Woongjin reacquired Coway — once a core affiliate — in 2019, only to find that the enormous financing burden became a crippling liability. Woongjin was forced to sell Coway again less than a year after completing the purchase.