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SEOUL: Lee Kun-hee, the charismatic leader of the Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate, died on Sunday, the company said, six years after he was hospitalized for a heart attack.
Lee, 78, helped his father’s noodle trading business, Lee Byung-chull, grow into a huge powerhouse with assets worth about $ 375 billion, with dozens of affiliates ranging from electronics and insurance to shipbuilding and construction.
“Lee is such a symbolic figure in South Korea’s spectacular rise and in how South Korea embraced globalization that his death will be remembered by so many Koreans,” said Chung Sun Sup, chief executive of corporate research firm Chaebul. com.
He is the latest second-generation leader of a conglomerate controlled by a South Korean family to die, leaving potentially thorny succession problems for the third generation.
Lee’s son, Jay Y. Lee, has been embroiled in legal problems linked to the merger of two Samsung subsidiaries that helped Lee take greater control of the group’s flagship Samsung Electronics.
Young Lee served time in jail for his role in a bribery scandal that triggered the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye. He faces a new trial in the case, and another trial began this week on charges of accounting fraud and stock price manipulation.
The death of Lee, the richest in South Korea with a net worth of $ 20.9 billion according to Forbes, will spark investor interest in a possible group restructuring involving his stakes in key Samsung companies like Samsung Life and Samsung. Electronics.
Samsung Life is the largest shareholder in the group’s crown jewel, Samsung Electronics, and Lee owns 20.76% of the insurer.
Lee died with his family by his side, including Jay Y. Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics, the conglomerate said.
“President Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the global leader in innovation and industrial power from a local company. His declaration of ‘New Management’ in 1993 was the motivating driver behind the company’s vision to deliver the better technology to help global society move forward. “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.
Chung of Chaebul.com said: “Immediate attention will be given to Lee’s approximately 5% stake in Samsung Electronics,” and how it will be distributed to his family. – Reuters
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