Drama-Full Business Trip Samsung Boss Lee Kun-hee Dies At 78

Bos Besar Samsung Lee Kun-hee (Image Credit: Korea Herald)

JAKARTA - The sad news came from South Korea, South Korea, where Samsung Electronics boss Lee Kun-hee died. He died at the age of 78, on Sunday 25 October, after undergoing treatment in hospital for a heart attack.

Launching the New York Times page, in a statement issued by Samsung, Lee Kun-hee died accompanied by his family at his side. Including Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, Lee's only senior son and heir.

"Chairman Lee is a true visionary who turns Samsung into a world leading innovator and industrial powerhouse of local businesses," said Samsung, Monday, October 26.

Lee Kun-hee first took over Samsung in 1987, after his father Lee Byung-chull passed away. He was instrumental in pushing Samsung from a manufacturer of low-cost televisions and electronics to a global technology brand with assets equivalent to US $ 375 billion.

The man who was born January 9, 1942, has endlessly pushed Samsung up the ladder of success. Until the 2000s, Samsung was transformed into a mid-to-high class smartphone manufacturer and surpassed Japanese brands, including Sony, Sharp Corp. and Panasonic Corp.

Under his leadership, Samsung was transformed into the largest family-controlled conglomerate company or so-called 'chaebol' in South Korea. The company's overall turnover is equivalent to one-fifth of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), making it important for the health of the South Korean economy.

Samsung's business does not stop in the electronics sector alone, but also extends from insurance to shipping construction. This makes Lee Kun-hee the most influential person in South Korea.

Full of Drama

During his tenure at Samsung since 1987, Lee obviously had a lot of big responsibilities. He remains a big thinker behind the scenes in providing strategic direction for Samsung's business.

Launching The Verge, Lee Kun-hee's business trip was inseparable from scandals and corruption cases. In 1996, Lee Kun-hee was even convicted of bribing two former South Korean presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.

As a corporate dynasty spread across South Korea, Lee Kun-hee certainly used various ways to maintain the family business. This includes bribing prosecutors, judges and political figures to protect their influence in South Korea.

In 2008, Lee was charged by special prosecutors with operating an illegal fund, including evading taxes that he kept in secret accounts. He was sentenced to three years in prison by a Seoul district court suspended for five years on charges of tax evasion.

However, he received a presidential pardon in December 2009 before being reinstated as chairman of Samsung Electronics in early 2010.

"I promised 20 years ago that the day Samsung is recognized as a first-class business, the glory and the results will be yours. I am truly sorry for not being able to fulfill that promise," Lee-Kun-hee told his employees, quoted VOI from Yonhap news page.

After Lee's death, his wife Hong Ra-hee, Jae-yong's only son, and two daughters Boo-jin and Seo-hyun will face a large tax inheritance. Yonhap news agency reported that the inheritance tax was estimated at 10.6 trillion won (9.4 billion US dollars).

Even so, the family also inherited Lee's stake in the Samsung affiliate for more than 18 trillion won (US $ 16 billion). Now Samsung will be led by Lee Jae-yong, who previously served as Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics.