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SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, who transformed the South Korean company into a global tech titan, died at the age of 78 on Sunday (October 25), the company said.
Under Lee’s leadership, Samsung became the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, and the company’s total turnover today is equivalent to one-fifth of South Korea’s gross domestic product.
Known for a lonely lifestyle, Lee was left bedridden from a heart attack in 2014. Little was revealed about his condition, leaving him shrouded in mystery even in his final days.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kun-hee Lee, president of Samsung Electronics,” the company said in a statement.
“President Lee passed away on October 25 with his family, including Vice President Jay Y Lee, by his side.”
“President Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the world leader in innovation and industrial powerhouse of a local company,” said the firm, adding: “His legacy will be eternal.”
Samsung is by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in South Korea.
They fueled the nation’s transformation from war-torn ruin to the world’s twelfth-largest economy, but today they are accused of shady political ties and stifling competition, with Lee himself twice convicted of criminal offenses, in a case bribing a president.
“KING HERMIT”
When Lee inherited the presidency of the Samsung group in 1987, founded by his father as an exporter of fish and fruit, it was already the largest conglomerate in the country, with operations ranging from consumer electronics to construction.
But Lee focused on it and took it globally: When he suffered a heart attack in 2014, he was the world’s largest maker of smartphones and memory chips. It is also a major global player in semiconductors and LCD displays today.
Still, he rarely ventured outside the high walls of his private compound in central Seoul to visit the company’s headquarters, earning him the nickname “Hermit King.”
His son, Samsung Electronics Vice President Lee Jae-yong, has been at the helm of the company since the heart attack in 2014.
Lee was jailed for five years in 2017 after being convicted of bribery and other crimes related to former President Park Geun-hye, before being acquitted of the most serious charges on appeal and released a year later.
That case is currently being re-tried.
