Lee Jae-yong, the heir and de facto director of Samsung, the world's largest memory card and smartphone maker, who has been jailed twice for bribery, has been appointed chairman of the board.
With this symbolic decision, Samsung, South Korea's largest company, will officially be led by a third-generation member of the founding family. Lee, 54, was sentenced in 2017 for bribing and embezzling former president Park Geun-hye.
Lee Jae-yong (born 23 June 1968), known professionally in the West as Jay Y. Lee, is a South Korean business magnate and the chairman of Samsung Electronics. He is the only son of Hong Ra-hee and Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung until his death in 2020, and is his father's successor. Lee is fluent in his native Korean, English, and Japanese.
After serving more than half of his sentence in August 2021, Lee was jailed for 207 days and was released early by the decision of then-president Moon Jae-in. Moon Jae-in announced that he took the decision to evacuate for the national interest at a time when the coronavirus epidemic hit the economy, and asked the public to be understanding.
Lee was pardoned by current President Yoon Suk-yeol two months ago. With this decision, Lee, also known as Sagittarius Y Lee, has formalized his de facto position with the company since 2014. Lee, who has been Samsung's vice chairman of the board since 2012, took over the de facto management after his father suffered a heart attack. Lee's father died in 2020. Former President Park Guen-hye was also sent to prison in the bribery scandal.
"The Board of Directors approved the recommendation given the current uncertain global business environment and the greater need for strong accountability and stability," Samsung said in a statement on the appointment.
Who is Lee Jae-yong?
Jay Y. Lee was born in the city of Suel, and from 1991 onwards, he started working with his father as a manager in various positions at the Samsung company. Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung's board, is now chairman of the board. The personal wealth of Lee, who sat in the chair of his father, who passed away in 2020, after waiting for 2 years, is more than 7 billion dollars according to Forbes data. The Samsung CEO, who has 2 children from his 11-year marriage, has an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old child. Although his real name is Lee Jae-yong, in the west and in the USA his name is introduced as Jay Y. Lee.