Lee, who transformed the group into a global telecommunications giant, has been bedridden since a heart attack in 2014.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Lee Kun-hee, president of Samsung Electronics,” said the group. “President Lee passed away on October 25 with his family, including Vice President Jay Y. Lee, at his side,” reads the same note.
The vice president, son Lee Jae-yong, has been at the helm of the company since the 2014 health accident.
“President Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung by making it a world leader in innovation and industrial power,” he praised the company, adding: “Your legacy will be eternal.”
Samsung is by far the largest of the South Korean conglomerates that dominate the 12th largest economy in the world.
The company’s overall turnover is equivalent to one fifth of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
Lee Jae-yong was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 after being convicted of corruption and other crimes related to former President Park Geun-hye, only to be acquitted of the most serious charges on appeal and released a year later. This case is still ongoing.
The father, Lee Kun-hee, was convicted of corruption in 1996 and then of corruption and tax evasion in 2008. But he escaped from prison and received a suspended sentence.
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