Who is Lee Jae-yong? Samsung Electronics chairman acquitted of financial crimes

Lee Jae-yong, the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, has been exonerated by a South Korean court. In 2015, Lee was charged with accounting fraud and manipulating stock prices in connection with a tense merger involving two Samsung affiliates that strengthened his control over the largest corporation in South Korea.

On Monday, February 5, 2024, Lee was found not guilty by the Seoul Central District Court of accounting fraud and manipulating stock prices. The lawsuit represented the most recent development in a protracted scandal that shook South Korea, involving high-level corruption and the ownership of the nation's biggest enterprise.

As the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Jae-yong leads the largest corporation in the East Asian country. After his father passed away in 2020, the position had been empty until he was nominated to it in October of 2022.

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Lee Jae-yong has been working at Samsung Electronics for the last 33 years

Lee Jae-yong was charged with the crime of bribery (Image via Facebook / Lee Jae-yong)

Since October 2022, Lee Jae-yong has held the position of executive chairman at Samsung Electronics. He is Hong Ra-hee and Lee Kun-hee's only child. With an estimated net worth of US$11 billion as of September 2021, Lee is the fourth wealthiest individual in South Korea.

In 1991, Jae-yong began his career with Samsung. He first held the title of "Chief Customer Officer" after starting as vice president of strategic planning. His father Kun-hee's resignation as the chairman of Samsung over tax evasion cast doubt on his chances of rising to the top of the corporation in the future.

However, in December 2009, Lee's appointment as Samsung Electronics' chief operating officer restored the prospects of succeeding his father. He has also served as Samsung's vice chairman since December 2012. With an ownership stake of 11% in Samsung SDS, he is among the top stockholders in the company's financial services subsidiary.

Furthermore, Lee Jae-yong was ranked as the 35th most powerful person in the world and the most powerful Korean in Forbes Magazine's list of the world's most powerful people in 2014.

Nevertheless, after being found guilty in 2017 on bribery counts pertaining to the 2015 agreement, Lee spent eighteen months behind bars. He was charged with paying 8.6 billion won ($6.4 million) in bribery to former President Park Geun-hye and her close friend to secure official approval for the 2015 merger.

The court's decision described his involvement as "passive compliance to political power." He later filed an appeal with the Supreme Court and disputed any misconduct. He was given a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in January 2021 following a retrial. The time he has already served will be used for the new sentence.

However, after Lee Jae-yong started serving his prison sentence for his convictions for bribery and embezzlement, he was barred from participating in significant Samsung commercial transactions. In August 2022, he received a pardon and went back to work at Samsung.

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As per CNN, Lee had expressed regret for the difficulties Samsung and its shareholders had endured as a result of the legal battles during his trial last year. According to the same source, Lee said to the judges:

“The world is experiencing geopolitical risks, and our country is in the middle of them. Technological innovation is occurring in this world at a faster rate than we can imagine."

Lee or his representatives declined to respond to inquiries from the media as he was leaving the court.