The number one of the Korean company died in Seoul after a hospital stay that lasted years following the heart attack that hit him in 2014. The announcement was made by the company with a note: “He was a true visionary, which has transformed Samsung from a local company into an innovative player and global industrial power. Its legacy will be eternal “
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Lee Kun-hee, the president of Samsung, has died at 78. The death occurred in a hospital in Seoul, where the man had been hospitalized for a long time after a heart attack in 2014. In a statement, the Korean company reported the disappearance of Lee Kun-hee remembering him as “a true visionary who transformed Samsung from a local company into an innovative player and a global industrial powerhouse. Its legacy will be eternal. “
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The beginnings of Lee Kun-hee
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The youngest of three brothers, Lee Kun-hee took over the leadership of the group in 1987 – founded by his father for fish and fruit exports – which had already become South Korea’s first industrial champion, with activities ranging from consumer electronics to construction and heavy industry.
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“Change everything, except wife and children”
Lee Kun-hee is known for a statement dating back to 1993 at a corporate event in Frankfurt, which could represent his vision of the new management: “Change everything, except wives and children”. On that day, in Germany, the entrepreneur wanted to spur executives to break new ground to reinvent the company, known at the time for low-cost televisions, by aiming as a visionary on advanced technology to amaze the world. In 2006, Samsung overtook Sony to become the leader in the global TV market. Five years later it bypassed Apple, then the largest smartphone maker. And in the following years it was the turn of chips and memory cards, the real driving force of the impetuous growth of the conglomerate, in a sector dominated by American and Japanese corporations. Under the leadership of Lee Kun-hee, Samsung has seen its revenue grow to over $ 200 billion and alone are worth a fifth of South Korea’s GDP, as well as 20% of its exports.
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The commitment to grow South Korea
Lee Kun-hee also played an important role in South Korea’s return to the international community after the military dictatorship and the arrival of democracy, sealed by the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. Then the 2002 World Cup co-hosted with Japan and the IOC commitment to have the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. After the Samsung president’s heart attack, the helm of the company passed to his son Lee Jae-yong. Despite his lonely lifestyle and the nickname “hermit king”, Lee Kun-hee has had to deal with financial scandals and corruption for his obscure intertwining with politics, receiving two convictions for various types of crimes. Samsung and the other chaebols, accused of being a state within a state, led the transformation of the nation that rose from the ruins of the Korean War (1950-53) to become the 12th largest economy in the world (destined this year – according to OECD estimates, also due to the effect of the Covid pandemic – to rise to ninth place).
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