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 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

. He is the only son of Hong Ra-hee and

Lee Kun-hee Lee Kun-hee (, ; 9 January 194225 October 2020) was a South Korean business magnate who served as the chairman of Samsung Group from 1987 to 2008 and from 2010 to 2020, and is credited with the transformation of Samsung to one of the world's la ...

, chairman of Samsung until his death in 2020, and is his father's successor. Lee is fluent in his native Korean, English, and Japanese. As of September 2021, Lee is estimated to be worth US$11 billion, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in South Korea. In January 2021, Lee was sidelined from taking part in major Samsung business dealings after he resumed serving a prison sentence for a bribery and embezzlement conviction. He was pardoned in August 2022 and will be reinstated at his position at Samsung. In October 2022, it was announced that Lee was appointed as the executive chairman. In 2014, Lee was named the world's 35th most powerful person and the most powerful Korean by

Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People Between 2009 and 2018 (with absence in 2017) the business magazine ''Forbes'' had compiled an annual list of the world's most powerful people. The list had one slot for every 100 million people, meaning in 2009 there were 67 people on the list, ...

along with his father.

Personal life

Jae-yong was born in Seoul, South Korea to

. He attended

Kyungbock High School Kyungbock High School () is one of the oldest modern secondary school in South Korea. It is located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, near Gyeongbok Palace, after which it is named. It was established on April 18, 1921. The school's original name was the No. 2 ...

. He received his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in East Asian history from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

, and his

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

from

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

. He attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

for about five years in pursuit of a

Doctor of Business Administration The Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) is either a professional doctorate or a research doctorate, depending on the granting university, awarded on the basis of advanced study, examinations, project work, and research in business administrati ...

degree, but did not graduate. He is the cousin of

CJ Group CJ Group () is a South Korean conglomerate holding company and one of the largest Chaebol headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous businesses in various industries of food and food service, pharmaceutics and biotechnology, enter ...

chairman

Lee Jay-hyun Lee Jay-hyun (; born March 19, 1960) is a South Korean businessman. He is the chairman of the CJ Group. Biography Lee was born in 1960 as the eldest grandson of the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. His father, Lee Maeng-hee, was the eldest ...

and

Shinsegae Shinsegae (, ) is a South Korean department store franchise, along with several other businesses, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The firm is an affiliate of Shinsegae Group, South Korea's leading retail chaebol, and one of the big three de ...

Group CEO

Chung Yong-jin Chung Yong-jin (; born 19 September 1968) is a South Korean billionaire businessman, the vice chairman and former CEO of Shinsegae Group. Personal life and family He is the only son of Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of Shinsegae Group and grandson o ...

. Lee has one son (born 1997) and one daughter (born 2004) with his ex-wife Lim Se-ryung. Lee Se-ryung is the Vice Chairwoman of Daesang group. Lee Se-ryung filed for divorce from Lee Jae-yong in 2009. Lee enjoys golf and

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...

Career at Samsung

Jae-yong started working for

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

in 1991. He began serving as Vice President of Strategic Planning and then as "Chief Customer Officer", a management position created exclusively for Lee. His prospects for future company leadership dimmed when his father Kun-hee stepped down as Chairman due to

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

. In December 2009, however, his succession prospects were revived when Lee became the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

. Since December 2012, he has been

vice chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Samsung. He is one of the main shareholders of Samsung's financial services subsidiary, owning 11 percent of

Samsung SDS Samsung SDS Co., Ltd. (formerly Samsung Data Systems; ), established in 1985 as a subsidiary of Samsung Group, is a provider of information technology (IT) services, including consulting services, technical services, and outsourcing services. SDS ...

. He has been described as having "been groomed to take over the family firm".

Criminal conviction and pardon

In January 2017,

special prosecutor In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to investigate, and potentially prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing for which a conflict of interest exis ...

s of the South Korean prosecutor's office accused Lee of bribery, embezzlement and perjury. Lee was questioned for more than 22 hours. The charges came as part of a "vast influence-peddling case" that led to the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye the preceding month. Lee was charged with bribing President Park Geun and her close friend

Choi Soon-sil Choi Soon-sil (; born June 23, 1956) is an individual known primarily for her involvement in the 2016 South Korean political scandal, which stemmed from her influence over the 11th President of South Korea, Park Geun-hye. Biography Choi Soon- ...

. An initial request for an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a j ...

was rejected by the

Seoul Central District Court Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

in mid-January 2017. In February 2017, Lee was formally indicted, and arrested after the Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant. Lee was charged with "offering $38 million in bribes to four entities controlled by a friend of then-President Park Geun-hye, including a company in Germany set up to support equestrian training for the daughter of one of Park’s friends, Choi Soon-sil" and "Prosecutors alleged the bribes were offered in exchange for government help with a merger that strengthened Lee’s control over Samsung at a crucial time for organizing a smooth leadership transition after his father fell ill." After his arrest,

admitted to making contributions to two nonprofit foundations allegedly controlled by Choi and her Germany-based firm but denied such contributions were related to the 2015 merger. A spokesman for Samsung said, "We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings." The case attracted the attention of the South Korean public; public opinion had turned against ''

chaebol A chaebol (, ; ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group whose power over the group often exc ...

s'', whose influence on society angered many. Lee was found guilty on each charge by a three-judge panel of Seoul Central District Court in August 2017 and was sentenced to five years in prison. (Prosecutors has sought a 12-year sentence.) In February 2018, the Seoul High Court reduced his prison sentence to 2.5 years, and suspended his prison sentence, leading to Lee's release after one year of detention. Subsequently, the Supreme Court of South Korea sent the case back to Seoul High Court, which held a retrial. In January 2021, Lee was sentenced to two years and six months in prison by Seoul High Court, which found him "guilty of bribery, embezzlement and concealment of criminal proceeds" worth about 8.6 billion

Korean won The Korean won ( ko, 원 (圓), ) or Korean Empire won (Korean: 대한제국 원), was the official currency of the Korean Empire between 1902 and 1910. It was subdivided into 100 ''jeon'' (; ko, 전 (錢), ). Etymology Won is a c ...

(7.8 million

U.S. dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

, £5.75 million

British pounds Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

), and found that Samsung's independent compliance committee, established in 2020, was not yet fully effective. Lee was returned to prison. In mid-2021, the

United States Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urging ...

, a lobbying group of American companies, joined Korean business groups to urge the president to pardon Lee, arguing that the billionaire executive can help strengthen U.S. President Joe Biden's efforts to end American dependence on computer chips produced overseas amid the global chip shortage. Lee was released on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

from the

Seoul Detention Center The Seoul Detention Center (; Hanja:서울拘置所, alternatively Seoul Prison) is a prison in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, operated by the Korea Correctional Service. History The Detention Center was completed in July 1967. According ...

Uiwang Uiwang () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is one of many satellite cities that ring Seoul, making up the Seoul Capital Area. Its largest immediate urban neighbor is Anyang. The low peaks of the Gwangju Mountains (including Moraks ...

on 13 August 2021; the South Korean government argued that the release was in the national interest. His parole conditions included business restrictions for five years and requiring permission before travelling outside South Korea. Upon leaving prison, Lee apologized, bowing to reporters and saying: "I've caused much concern for the people. I deeply apologize. I am listening to the concerns, criticisms, worries, and high expectations for me. I will work hard."Ron Amadeo
Samsung's leader is out of jail, allowing US factory plans to move forward
''Ars Technica'' (August 13, 2021). In August 2022, President

Yoon Suk-yeol Yoon Suk-yeol (; born 18 December 1960) is a South Korean politician, former public prosecutor and lawyer who has been serving as the 13th and current president of South Korea since 2022. Prior to his presidency, he served as the prosecutor g ...

granted a pardon to Lee, citing Samsung's importance to the economy; the pardon opened the door for Lee to take up leadership of the conglomerate.

2021 drug conviction

On 26 October 2021, Lee was convicted for illegally using the drug

propofol Propofol, marketed as Diprivan, among other names, is a short-acting medication that results in a decreased level of consciousness and a lack of memory for events. Its uses include the starting and maintenance of general anesthesia, sedation f ...

multiple times between 2015 and 2020 from a plastic surgery clinic. He was sentenced to paying a fine of 70 million won (US$60,055).

Management style

According to an article in ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'', Lee is known for his "cold" determination and polite, quiet demeanor. Lee is known to reply personally to e-mails, and assumes a light-hearted attitude with reporters. In August 2021, the

Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

reported that Lee retained his title as Samsung's "Vice-Chairman" despite not drawing a salary or being registered as an executive in compliance with his work ban.

References

External links

Forbes profile

BusinessWeek profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jae-yong 1969 births Living people 20th-century South Korean businesspeople 21st-century South Korean businesspeople Keio University alumni Seoul National University alumni South Korean billionaires Samsung people Harvard Business School alumni People from Washington, D.C. People from Seoul South Korean fraudsters South Korean prisoners and detainees People convicted of bribery Prisoners and detainees of South Korea People convicted of embezzlement Lee family (South Korea) Recipients of South Korean presidential pardons