Lee Kun-hee, the charismatic leader of the Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, died on Sunday, the company said, six years after being hospitalized for a heart attack.
Lee, 78, helped his father Lee Byung-chull’s noodle trading business grow into a powerhouse, with dozens of affiliates ranging from electronics and insurance to shipbuilding and construction.
He died with his family by his side, including his son, Samsung Electronics Vice President Jay Y. Lee, the conglomerate said.
Lee is the latest second-generation leader of a conglomerate controlled by a South Korean family to die, leaving thorny succession problems for the third generation.
“President Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the world leader in innovation and industrial power for a local company. Its 1993 ‘New Management’ declaration was the motivating driver for the company’s vision to deliver the best technology to help advance global society, ”Samsung said in a statement.
During its lifetime, Samsung Electronics went from being a second-tier television maker to the world’s largest technology company by revenue, eliminating the Japanese brands Sony, Sharp Corp, and Panasonic Corp in chips, televisions, and displays; ending Nokia Oyj’s mobile phone supremacy and overtaking Apple Inc on smartphones.
“His legacy will last forever,” said Samsung.
