Monday 26 October 2020 | 08:56 CET
Samsung Group announced the death of its chairman Lee Kun-hee at the age of 78, after several years of illness following a heart attack in 2014. He led the company’s transformation into a global electronics giant, after taking over in 1987 from his father who founded the company.
Samsung is the largest of the South Korean ‘chaebols’, the family-run conglomerates that dominate the economy in the country. Lee led Samsung’s expansion to become the world’s top smartphone and memory chip maker and a global leader in displays and other electronics.
This was not without controversy though, including a conviction for bribing a South Korea president and legal investigations into corporate restructurings at Samsung thought to have favoured his son Lee Jae-yong, also known as Jay Y Lee. The latter served as vice chair and is expected to take up the reins to the lead company, but was forced to step down from the board last year in order to face a retrial of bribery charges, after earlier winning an appeal in the case.
In March, Samsung appointed its first independent chairman, the former Korean finance minister Jae-Wan Bahk.
