The article highlights several lessons: ownership architecture should be stabilised before succession becomes urgent, family governance cannot be replaced by corporate engineering alone, and control in public companies often depends more on structural design than …
The Samsung Future Strategy Office acted as the group’s internal strategic coordination centre for decades. Following corruption investigations linked to the 2015 merger, the office was dismantled, weakening Samsung’s traditional centralised control mechanism.
The article describes Samsung’s governance as a “constellation model”, where control is distributed across interconnected affiliates rather than concentrated in a single holding company. This structure allows the family to maintain influence with relatively low …
South Korea has one of the world’s highest inheritance tax rates for large estates. Following Lee Kun-hee’s death, the family faced an estimated ₩12 trillion inheritance tax bill, creating pressure to generate liquidity without weakening …
Prosecutors alleged that Samsung provided financial support connected to President Park Geun-hye in exchange for political backing for the 2015 merger. The case led to the arrest and imprisonment of Lee Jae-yong.
The merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries helped position Lee Jae-yong at the centre of Samsung’s ownership structure ahead of generational succession. Critics argued that the transaction unfairly benefited the controlling family and disadvantaged …
In 1993, Lee Kun-hee launched a transformation initiative known as the “New Management” declaration, urging Samsung executives to prioritise quality, innovation, and global competitiveness rather than low-cost manufacturing volume.
Founder Lee Byung-chul broke with Confucian succession tradition after the 1966 Saccharin Smuggling Incident. He bypassed his eldest son, Lee Maeng-hee, and eventually selected his third son, Lee Kun-hee, as successor.
A chaebol is a large South Korean family-controlled conglomerate made up of interconnected companies operating across multiple industries. Samsung is one of the most influential chaebols and played a major role in South Korea’s industrial …
The Lee family maintains control through a layered ownership structure built around cross-shareholdings between affiliated companies. Strategic influence flows through key entities such as Samsung C&T and Samsung Life Insurance rather than through large direct …