Company type | Chaebol |
---|---|
Founded | 22 March 1967 |
Founder | Kim Woo-choong |
Defunct | 1 November 1999 |
Fate | Declared bankruptcy (see details) |
Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea |
Number of employees | 320,000[1][2] |
Divisions | |
Subsidiaries | |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 대우 |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Daeu |
McCune–Reischauer | Taeu |
Daewoo (UK: /ˈdeɪ.uː/ DAY-oo; US: /ˌdeɪˈwuː/ day-WOO; Korean: 대우; Hanja: 大宇; IPA: [tɛ.u]; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and automobile manufacturer.
It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $91 billion in 2023). Prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in South Korea after the Hyundai Group and behind Lucky-Goldstar (later became LG Corporation). There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survived as independent companies.