Definition
The socle of a group is the subgroup generated by all its minimal normal subgroups.
Proposition
The socle of a finite group is a direct product of simple groups.
\begin{proof}
Note that any different minimal normal subgroups intersects trivially, see here. Then by Minimal Normal Subgroup and Maximal Normal Subgroup the socle is a direct product of simple groups.
\end{proof}
