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Image source,Reuters
Li Jianxi inherited the Samsung company founded by his father Li Bingzhe in 1987 and made it a world-renowned company.
Lee Jianxi, chairman of South Korean electronics giant Samsung Group, who was hospitalized for a heart attack for many years, passed away on Sunday (October 25) at the age of 78.
Samsung issued a statement indicating that Li Jianxi passed away on Sunday in the company of his son Lee Jay-yong, vice president of Samsung Group. The statement also described Li Jianxi as a “visionary man”, which made Samsung go from being a local company to a world-class company. South Korean President Moon Jae-in extended his deepest condolences to Lee Kin-hee’s family, saying that in the difficult economic period of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic, Lee’s leadership skills will be will become a role model for Korean companies.
Li Jianxi’s father, Li Bingzhe, was the founder of the Samsung Group. After Li Bingzhe passed away in 1987, Li Jianxi succeeded his father as chairman of the group, and the group continued to expand under his leadership. The Yonhap news agency noted that the total market value of the Samsung Group increased from 900 billion won that year to 318.76 billion won (US $ 282.6 billion; 18,900 yuan) in 2014; Forbes estimated that Li Jianxi’s personal net worth was nearly US $ 21 billion.
It is believed that Lee Jae-yong will inherit his father and become the new president of Samsung Group. However, he was involved in the corruption case of former President Park Geun-hye and it has yet to be resolved. Later, he was accused of manipulating the share price in a 2015 M&A transaction. These events throw uncertain factors as to whether the leadership of the Samsung Group can be successfully transferred.
Image source,Getty Images / SOPA Images
Samsung has now dominated the world in multiple markets for electronic products, such as smartphones.
Image source,EPA
Li Jae-yong is Li Jianxi’s only son.
From media to electronics
Li Jianxi was born on January 9, 1942 in Daegu, North Korea, Japan, he is the seventh among eight siblings and is the third son of Li Bingzhe.
In 1953, Li Jianxi was ordered by his father to study in Japan, and then he returned to South Korea to go to high school, and then he returned to Japan. In 1965, he graduated from Waseda University in Japan with a major in business administration. In 1966, he completed an MBA at George Washington University in the United States.
At that time, Li Bingzhe founded Toyo Broadcasting (TBC Toyo Broadcasting Company) and “Central Daily News” successively, and Hong Jinji (also translated as Hong Lianji) was in charge of the media business for him. After returning to China, Li Jianxi joined Dongyang Broadcasting and took up administrative work. In 1967, he married Hong Luoxi, Hong Jinji’s eldest daughter.
Shortly after, Toyo Broadcasting merged with “Joongang Ilbo”, and Lee Kin-hee became director (director) of the new company in 1968. He began contacting Samsung headquarters in 1978 and became vice president of Samsung C&T. In 1987, he became president of the Samsung Group.
Image source,EPA / YONHAP
In 1942, Lee Jianxi was born in this house in Daegu, South Korea, when the entire Korean peninsula was still ruled by Japan.
Image source,EPA
Li Jianxi is the seventh in the family.
Image source,EPA
Li Jianxi (center) was sent to Japan by his father Li Bingzhe (right) when he was 11 years old.
Image source,EPA
On Christmas Eve 1987, more than a month after Li Bingzhe’s death, Li Jianxi (left) formally assumed the post of chairman (chairman) of Samsung Group.
“Everything must change”
After Li Jianxi took over the Samsung Group in 1987, it slowly grew into a world-renowned company with products including televisions, monitors, and mobile phones, successfully competing with well-known Japanese brands such as Sony and Matsushita Electric.
Reuters described Li Jianxi as having a strong sense of crisis. After he took over the Samsung Group in 1993, he felt that the company was still not doing well. He called many administrative staff members to an appliance store in the United States to review sales of Samsung products, but found out. A dusty Samsung TV, although the price is $ 100 cheaper than a Sony TV in the same store, it still does not matter to anyone.
Subsequently, he held a meeting with the management staff and decided to change the development direction of the company and win with quality. In the same year, he introduced the “new management concept”, the most famous phrase of which was demanding that management “change everything except his wife and children.”
Samsung gradually became a world-renowned brand, but some of its driving methods during that period got it into legal trouble. He resigned as president of Samsung in 2008. In the same year, prosecutors in Seoul accused him of helping his children buy shares of the Samsung Group at low prices. Finally, he was convicted of illegal transfer of operating rights and tax evasion, and sentenced to three years in prison. Suspended for five years.
He was later pardoned by then-South Korean President Lee Myung-Bok for his merits in helping Seoul successfully run for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Lee Jianxi became the president of Samsung Group again in 2010. He was admitted to Seoul Samsung Hospital for a heart attack in May 2014 and has been bedridden ever since.
Image source,EPA
The corruption case of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye sparked large-scale demonstrations in the local area.
Lawsuit
Li Jianxi has four children, but there is only one son, Lee Jae-yong, so Lee Jae-yong is expected to inherit his father’s position in Samsung Group.
However, he was involved in a corruption case involving former South Korean President Park Geun-hye and was investigated in 2016. The following year, he was indicted by South Korean prosecutors for bribery and embezzlement of public funds. He was later found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison, but later appealed and the case was finally returned for a new trial, which is still pending.
South Korean prosecutors also accused him of deliberately manipulating share prices when he handled the merger of two of his Samsung Group’s subsidiaries to increase his control over the Samsung Group. This type of case usually takes 18 months to complete. If either party appeals to the Supreme Court of South Korea, it can take two years.
The Yonhap news agency described that Lee Jae-yong’s legal proceedings have caused concern about whether he can successfully take over his father’s company.
