Lee Jae-yong expands presence in local, global business scene
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expanding his presence in the business scene, fueling the expectation that he will more actively engage in management personally following the inauguration of the President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Lee attended the 2022 Samsung Ho-Am Prize Ceremony held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday, for the first time in six years. He personally hosted the event after the collapse of his late father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, in 2014, but has been absent following his involvement in a corruption scandal that arose in 2017 leading to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison over bribing Park but was released on parole in August last year after serving just 18 months in prison.
Lee, the de facto leader of the nation’s largest conglomerate, had been largely removed from all business affairs since then but he has been noticeably more active after attending the inauguration ceremony of President Yoon Suk-yeol on May 10.
On May 20, Lee acted as a “private diplomat” when introducing Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek
As global uncertainty is growing, his role has become more important than ever.
campus to President Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden, who was visiting the country for the Korea-U.S. summit. The following day, Lee attended the Korea-U.S. business roundtable and President Biden’s welcome dinner.
On May 30, Lee and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger had a surprise meeting at the Samsung building in Seoul. Lee and Gelsinger are reported to have discussed ways to cooperate in various fields such as next-generation memory, fabless system semiconductors, the foundry business, PCs and mobile devices.
Samsung announced on May 24
that it will invest 450 trillion won over the next five years to foster new growth engines. This is an increase of 120 trillion won or 30 percent compared to the past five years, and the business community interpreted the large investment as Samsung’s response to the new government’s pro-business stance.
Industry officials believe that Lee will accelerate business activities once he is pardoned. Many believe a large-scale M&A could be in the works while Samsung Electronics has not conducted a largescale M&A since acquiring Harman in 2016. “As global uncertainty is growing, his role has become more important than ever,” an industry official said. “Only when restrictions are lifted Lee will be able to speed up investments and M&As.”
Also, the business world is paying attention to whether Lee will attend the “Allen & Company Conference” held every July in Sun Valley in the U.S. state of Idaho. This event is a global business conference hosted by U.S. investment bank Allen & Company since 1983.
It is also known as the “billionaire social club” because global media and information technology (IT) industry giants are the main guests.