Lee Kun-hee was a South Korean business magnate who served as the chairman of Samsung Group from 1987 to 2008, and again from 2010 until his death in 2020.
24 Facts About Lee Kun-hee
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Lee Kun-hee is 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.
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Since Lee Kun-hee became the chairman of Samsung, the company became the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, memory chips, and appliances.
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Lee Kun-hee was the third son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul.
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Lee Kun-hee was convicted twice, once in 1996 and subsequently in 2008, for corruption and tax evasion charges, but was pardoned on both instances.
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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.
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Lee Kun-hee was born on 9 January 1942 in Daegu, during the Japanese occupation of Korea.
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Lee Kun-hee was the third son of Lee Byung-chul, the founder of the Samsung group, which was set up as an exporter of fruit and dried fish.
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Lee Kun-hee went on to get a degree in economics from Waseda University, a private university in Japan.
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Lee Kun-hee studied for a masters program in business from the George Washington University in Washington, DC, but did not get a degree.
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Lee Kun-hee joined the Samsung Group in 1966 with the Tongyang Broadcasting Company, and later went on to work for Samsung's construction and trading company.
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Lee Kun-hee took over the chairmanship of the conglomerate on 24 December 1987, two weeks after the death of his father, Lee Byung-chul.
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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 Kun-hee famously said, "Change everything except your wife and kids".
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Lee Kun-hee went on to become the largest manufacturer of televisions, outpacing Sony corporation in 2006.
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Lee Kun-hee was convicted for having paid bribes to president Roh Tae-woo in 1996.
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On 4 April 2008, Lee Kun-hee denied allegations against him in the scandal.
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On 24 March 2010, Lee Kun-hee announced his return to Samsung Electronics as its chairman.
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Lee Kun-hee 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.
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Lee Kun-hee is credited with having transformed Samsung into the world's largest manufacturer of smartphones, televisions, and memory chips.
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Lee Kun-hee was married to Hong Ra-hee until his death.
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Lee Kun-hee 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.
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Lee Kun-hee 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.
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Lee Kun-hee's death triggered the largest inheritance tax bill in history, of 12 trillion won.
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The heirs to the late Lee Kun-hee 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.