Lee Kun-hee

{{Infobox person

| name = Lee Kun-hee

| native_name = {{nobold|이건희}}

| image = Lee Kun-Hee.jpg

| caption = Lee in 2013

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1942|1|9|df=y}}

| birth_place = Taikyu, Keishōhoku Prefecture, Korea, Empire of Japan

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2020|10|25|1942|1|9}}

| death_place = Seoul, South Korea

| education = {{ubl|Waseda University (BS)|George Washington University}}

| occupation = Businessman

| years_active = 1966–2020

| title = Chairman of Samsung (1987–2008; 2010–2020)

| spouse = Hong Ra-hee

| children = {{Plainlist|

Lee Jae-yong (son)
Lee Boo-jin (daughter)
Lee Seo-hyun (daughter)
Lee Yoon-hyung (daughter)

}}

| mother = {{ill|Park Du-eul|ko|박두을}}

| father = Lee Byung-chul

| relatives = Lee Myung-hee (sister)

| module = {{Infobox Korean name/auto|child=yes

| hangul = %이건희

| hanja = 李健熙

| ipa = {{IPA|iːɡʌnɣi}}

}}

Lee Kun-hee ({{Korean|hangul=이건희}}; 9 January 1942{{spnd}}25 October 2020) was a South Korean businessman who served as the chairman of Samsung from 1987 to 2008 and from 2010 to his death in 2020. He is also credited with the transformation of Samsung to one of the world's largest business entities that engages in semiconductors, smartphones, electronics, shipbuilding, construction, and other businesses. Since Lee became the chairman of Samsung, the company became the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, memory chips, and appliances. He was the third son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. With an estimated net worth of US$21 billion at the time of his death,{{Citation | type = profile | url = https://www.forbes.com/profile/lee-kun-hee/ | title = Lee Kun-Hee | journal = Forbes | access-date = 13 February 2020 | archive-date = 29 July 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170729205354/https://www.forbes.com/profile/lee-kun-hee/ | url-status = live}} he was the richest person in South Korea, a position that he had held since 2007.

He was convicted twice, once in 1996 and subsequently in 2008, for corruption and tax evasion charges, but was pardoned on both instances. In 2014, Lee was named the world's 35th most powerful person and the most powerful Korean by Forbes's list of the world's most powerful people along with his son, Lee Jae-yong.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/#tab:overall|title=The World's Most Powerful People| website=Forbes |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225092237/https://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/#tab:overall|url-status=live}}

Early life

File:李健熙和父亲李秉喆.jpg

Lee Kun-hee was born on 9 January 1942 in Daegu, during the Japanese occupation of Korea.{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Kun-Hee|title=Lee Kun-Hee South Korean businessman|publisher=Britannica|author=Louis Kraar|date=12 April 2010|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=18 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918213215/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Kun-Hee|url-status=live}} His father, Lee Byung-chul, founded the Samsung Group, initially as an exporter of fruit and dried fish.{{Cite news|last=Zhong|first=Raymond|date=24 October 2020|title=Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Dies at 78; Built an Electronics Titan|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/obituaries/lee-kun-hee-dies-samsung.html|access-date=25 October 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025014403/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/obituaries/lee-kun-hee-dies-samsung.html|url-status=live}} Lee Kun-hee studied economics at Waseda University in Tokyo, and was later educated at the George Washington University in the United States.

Career

=First period at Samsung=

Lee joined the Tongyang Broadcasting Company (then an affiliate of the Samsung Group) in 1966, and later went on to work for Samsung's construction and trading company.

He took over the chairmanship of the conglomerate on 24 December 1987, two weeks after the death of his father, Lee Byung-chul.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/30/3709688/samsung-25-years-lee-kun-hee |title=King of Samsung: a chairman's reign of cunning and corruption |last=Byford |first=Sam |date=30 November 2012 |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=2 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202005425/https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/30/3709688/samsung-25-years-lee-kun-hee |url-status=live }} In 1993, believing that Samsung Group was overly focused on producing large quantities of low-quality goods and was not prepared to compete in quality, Lee famously said, "Change everything except your wife and kids".{{Cite web|last=Moore|first=James|date=8 October 2011|title=The business on...Lee Kun-hee, Chairman, Samsung|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-business-onlee-kun-hee-chairman-samsung-2367402.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225042305/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/the-business-onlee-kun-hee-chairman-samsung-2367402.html|archive-date=25 February 2018 |access-date=25 October 2020|website=The Independent|language=en}} This call was an attempt to drive innovation at the company and to face up to the competition at that time from rivals like Sony Corporation.{{Cite news|date=25 October 2020|title=Lee Kun-hee, Korean Icon Who Transformed Samsung, Dies at 78|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-25/samsung-electronics-says-chairman-lee-kun-hee-has-died|access-date=25 October 2020}} In what is now known as the 'Frankfurt Declaration', he gathered his executives in the German city in 1993, and called for a change in the company's approach to quality, even if it meant lower sales. The company went on to become the largest manufacturer of televisions, outpacing Sony in 2006.

=Scandals and controversies=

Lee was convicted for having paid bribes to president Roh Tae-woo in 1996. He was subsequently pardoned by president Kim Young-sam.

On 14 January 2008, Korean police raided Lee's home and office in an ongoing probe into accusations that Samsung was responsible for a slush fund used to bribe influential prosecutors, judges, and political figures in South Korea.[http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/14/business/samsung.php] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117233025/http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/14/business/samsung.php|date=17 January 2008}} On 4 April 2008, Lee denied allegations against him in the scandal.{{cite web |url=http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/281425.html |title=Samsung chairman hints at possible resignation : National : Home |language=ko |publisher=The Hankyoreh |access-date=28 December 2010 |archive-date=6 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306001212/http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/281425.html |url-status=live}} After a second round of questioning by the South Korean prosecutors, on 11 April 2008, Lee was quoted by reporters as saying, "I am responsible for everything. I will assume full moral and legal responsibility."{{cite web|last=Byford|first=Sam|date=30 November 2012|title=King of Samsung: a chairman's reign of cunning and corruption|url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/30/3709688/samsung-25-years-lee-kun-hee|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202005425/https://www.theverge.com/2012/11/30/3709688/samsung-25-years-lee-kun-hee|archive-date=2 December 2012|access-date=9 July 2017|website=The Verge}} On 21 April 2008, he resigned and stated: "We, including myself, have caused troubles to the nation with the special probe; I deeply apologize for that, and I'll take full responsibility for everything, both legally and morally."{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7359992.stm|title=BBC News – Asia-Pacific – Samsung chief resigns from post|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=22 April 2008|access-date=22 April 2008|archive-date=26 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080426111913/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7359992.stm|url-status=live}}

On 16 July 2008, The New York Times reported the Seoul Central District Court had found Lee guilty on charges of financial wrongdoing and tax evasion. Prosecutors requested that Lee be sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 350 billion won (approximately US$312 million). The court fined him 110 billion won (approximately US$98 million) and gave him a three-years suspended sentence. However, on 29 December 2009, South Korean president Lee Myung-bak pardoned Lee, stating that the intent of the pardon was to allow Lee to remain on the International Olympic Committee. In Lee Myung-bak's corruption trial, this pardon was revealed to have been in exchange for bribes; further bribery and other political corruption between former President Lee and Lee Kun-hee was also exposed.{{cite news |last1=Sang-Hun |first1=Choe |title=Former South Korean President Gets 15 Years in Prison for Corruption |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/asia/lee-myung-bak-south-korea-convicted.html |access-date=31 October 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=5 October 2018 |archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103084240/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/world/asia/lee-myung-bak-south-korea-convicted.html |url-status=live }}

Think Samsung, a 2010 book by Kim Yong-chul, former Samsung legal counsel, alleged that Lee was guilty of corruption. In particular, it claimed that he stole up to 10 trillion won (approximately US$8.9 billion) from Samsung subsidiaries, tampered with evidence, and bribed government officials to guarantee his son would succeed him.

=Return to Samsung=

On 24 March 2010, Lee announced his return to Samsung Electronics as its chairman.{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2019/05/693_62923.html|title=Lee Kun-hee Returns to Samsung Helm|date=24 March 2010|website=The Korea Times|access-date=13 May 2019|archive-date=13 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513225040/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2019/05/693_62923.html|url-status=live}} He continued in this position until 2014, when he suffered an incapacitating heart attack and his son, Lee Jae-yong, became the Samsung group's de facto leader."[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Kun-Hee Lee Kun-hee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918213215/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lee-Kun-Hee |date=18 September 2015}}". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 April 2020. He is credited with having transformed Samsung into the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, televisions, and memory chips. At the time of his death, the company was worth US$300 billion, and with an estimated net worth US$20.7 billion per Bloomberg's billionaire index, he was the richest person in South Korea; a position that he had held since 2007.{{Cite web|last=Chung|first=Grace|title=Lee Kun-Hee, Legendary Head Of Samsung And Korea's Richest Man, Dies At 78|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/gracechung/2020/10/24/lee-kun-hee-legendary-head-of-samsung-and-koreas-richest-man-dies-at-78/|access-date=25 October 2020|website=Forbes|language=en}}

Following his death, Lee's heirs are expected to face an estate tax of around US$10 billion, which might potentially result in dilution of the family's stake in the conglomerate. This stems from South Korea's high estate tax of 50% for estates larger than US$3 billion, which is second only to Japan, amongst the OECD countries.

Personal life

Lee Kun-hee was married to Hong Ra-hee until his death.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20110329000654|title=Hong Ra-hee makes comeback as Leeum's director|date=29 March 2011|access-date=9 March 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424210140/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20110329000654|url-status=live|website=The Korea Herald}} Hong is the daughter of Hong Jin-ki, the former chairman of the JoongAng Ilbo and Tongyang Broadcasting Company.{{Cite web|date=29 March 2011|title=Hong Ra-hee makes comeback as Leeum's director|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20110329000654|access-date=25 October 2020|website=The Korea Herald|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=JoongAng's late chairman's wife dies|url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2013/06/05/socialAffairs/JoongAngs-late-chairmans-wife-dies/2972683.html|access-date=25 October 2020|website=Korea JoongAng Daily|date=5 June 2013 |language=en}}

His siblings and some of their children are also executives of major Korean business groups.[https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_hi_te/as_skorea_samsung Samsung promotes chairman's son to president] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205024515/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_hi_te/as_skorea_samsung |date=5 December 2010 }}, Kelly olsen, AP, 3 December 2010 Lee Boo-jin, his eldest daughter, is president and CEO of Hotel Shilla, a luxury hotel chain, as well as president of Everland Resort, a theme park and resort operator that is "widely seen as the de facto holding company for the conglomerate" according to the Associated Press.

Lee had four children: the eldest child and the only son, Lee Jae-yong (born 1968), and three daughters, Lee Boo-jin (born 1970), Lee Seo-hyun (born 1973), and Lee Yoon-hyung (1979–2005) who died by suicide.{{Cite web |url=http://news.163.com/10/0824/16/6ES8V5TG000146BD_2.html |title=The descendants of the Samsung family lived uncomfortably and their suicides were killed (2) |date=24 August 2010 |access-date=27 September 2018 |archive-date=24 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224132153/http://news.163.com/10/0824/16/6ES8V5TG000146BD_2.html |url-status=live }}

Lee's older brother Lee Maeng-hee and older sister Lee Sook-hee initiated legal action against him in February 2012, asking a South Korean court to award them shares of Samsung companies totaling US$850 million (913.563 billion won), which they claim their father willed to them.{{cite news | url=https://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/05/30/samsung-feud-the-court-case-begins/ | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=Samsung Feud: The Court Case Begins | date=30 May 2012 | access-date=30 May 2012 | archive-date=14 November 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114100300/http://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2012/05/30/samsung-feud-the-court-case-begins/ | url-status=live }} Court hearings began in May 2012. On 6 February 2014, courts in South Korea dismissed the case.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-26066975|title=Samsung boss Lee Kun-hee wins inheritance case appeal|journal=BBC News|date=6 February 2014|access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=8 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140208164621/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-26066975|url-status=live}}

=Illness and death=

Lee was treated for lung cancer in the late 1990s and was tested again for cancer in 2005, at the MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston, Texas, with no subsequent concerns being announced.{{cite web|title=Finding a Cure for Cancer – News – SNU Media – News & Forum – SNU|url=http://www.useoul.edu/snunews?bm=v&bbsidx=72074&page=11|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513012113/http://www.useoul.edu/snunews?bm=v&bbsidx=72074&page=11|archive-date=13 May 2014|access-date=13 May 2019|website=www.useoul.edu}}{{Cite web|title=No Apparent Health Problems for Samsung Chief|url=http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=e&Seq_Code=29596|access-date=25 October 2020|website=KBS World|language=en}} He was hospitalized in Seoul in May 2014 after suffering a heart attack, and lapsed into a coma, which he remained in until his death on 25 October 2020, at the age of 78.{{Cite news|last=Zhong|first=Raymond|date=24 October 2020|title=Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Dies at 78; Built an Electronics Titan|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/obituaries/lee-kun-hee-dies-samsung.html|url-status=live|access-date=25 October 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=25 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025014403/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/obituaries/lee-kun-hee-dies-samsung.html}}[https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20201025016300003 이건희 삼성 회장 별세...향년 78세]

Lee's death triggered the largest inheritance tax bill in history, of 12 trillion won ($10.78 billion).{{cite news |title=Samsung heirs to pay record inheritance tax |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56911094 |access-date=4 March 2023 |work=BBC News |date=28 April 2021}}

=Posthumous=

The heirs to the late Lee announced in the spring of 2021 that the businessman's multibillion-dollar collection of more than 23,000 works of art would be dispersed throughout public institutions in South Korea. Contrary to this announcement, the country's minister of culture, sports, and tourism, Hwang Hee, announced plans to build a new museum dedicated to the Lee collection.{{Cite web|last=Dafoe|first=Taylor|title=The Late Samsung Chairman's Multibillion-Dollar Art Collection Is Getting Its Own Dedicated Museum in Seoul |url=https://news.artnet.com/market/late-samsung-chairman-collection-getting-own-museum-seoul-1986665|access-date=7 July 2021|website=Artnet|date=7 July 2021 |language=en}}