Ceragem founder adopts 23-year employee as legal heir, transfers company stake

Ceragem founder and Chairman Lee Hwan-seong has adopted the company's professional CEO as his legal son and plans to hand over his ownership stake — an unusual succession arrangement for a South Korean mid-sized company. Lee Kyung-soo, who joined Ceragem as an entry-level employee in 2003 and rose to president and CEO, has been designated as the founder's heir. The decision is a rare case in which a founder transfers both management control and ownership to a professional manager with no blood ties.

Ceragem announced Tuesday that Chairman Lee is proceeding with the adoption of CEO Lee Kyung-soo as an adult son and the transfer of his shares. The two completed the legal adoption process last year, and this year the chairman transferred shares equivalent to 10 percent of the company's total issued stock to the CEO. The related gift tax filing has also been completed.

The succession reflects the chairman's consideration of the company's long-term growth and management continuity. Rather than passing control to a family member, he chose to transfer both management authority and ownership to a professional executive. Ceragem said it examined several alternatives to secure corporate independence and governance stability before settling on succession through adult adoption.

Lee Kyung-soo joined Ceragem as a new hire in 2003 and built his management experience across key departments including strategic planning, marketing, and domestic and overseas sales. In 2017, he ran a dealership directly in Sichuan Province, China, gaining hands-on field experience.

His management capabilities drew serious attention in 2018, when he took charge of the domestic business at Chairman Lee's request. He pursued a strategy to expand the company's core spine-care medical device business into the broader home healthcare appliance market.

In 2019, he introduced "Well Cafes," experiential retail spaces where customers could try premium healthcare products before purchasing them. Ceragem credits this retail strategy with laying the foundation for its domestic market growth.

More recently, the company has been expanding beyond its traditional spine-care medical devices and massage chairs into products and services covering overall lifestyle health management. It is also pursuing an "AI Wellness Home" vision that integrates AI technology into residential spaces.

Earnings have also been recovering. Ceragem posted consolidated revenue of 549.8 billion won ($410 million) in 2025, up 0.7 percent from the previous year. Operating profit reached 25.8 billion won, a 1,091 percent increase year on year, while net profit for the period came in at 1.9 billion won, marking a return to the black. The company said the improved profitability reflects returns on investment in new products and services.

Behind the chairman's choice of Lee Kyung-soo as his successor lie more than two decades of accumulated trust and business results. The two worked together through Ceragem's domestic and overseas expansion, sharing a common management philosophy. The chairman weighed Lee's understanding of the business, his execution ability and his organizational management skills in making the succession decision.

The move stands out in the context of how mid-sized Korean companies typically handle succession. Unlike the conventional approach — passing shares to children or other relatives, or simply entrusting management to a professional executive — Ceragem's founder chose to legally bring the executive into his family and transfer ownership along with control.

Founded in 1998, Ceragem is a home healthcare company that built its business around spine-care medical devices and premium massage chairs. It has recently been expanding its product lineup around its "7-Care Solution" and extending into AI-based healthcare.

"This succession connects the founder's entrepreneurial spirit with the proven capabilities of a next-generation leader built over more than 20 years, and represents our preparation for Ceragem's future," a company official said. "On the foundation of stable governance and accountable management, we will pursue sustainable growth and put into practice our commitment to social responsibility and the value of sharing."