Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-Hee Dies at 78

he man who brought the South Korean genius to the world served as the company’s head from 1987 to 2008 and then from 2010 to 2020.

New Delhi: Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-Hee on Sunday died at the age of 78 at a hospital in Seoul. The man who brought the South Korean genius to the world served as the company’s head from 1987 to 2008 and then from 2010 to 2020.

Although the cause of his death was not revealed, Lee had been incapacitated since a heart attack in 2014.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Kun-hee Lee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics,” the company released an official statement.

“Chairman Lee was a true visionary who transformed Samsung into the world-leading innovator and industrial powerhouse from a local business,” the statement read, adding, “His legacy will be everlasting.”

With Samsung, Lee had built an electronics titan that made South Korea a global leader of smartphones, televisions, computer chips, microwaves and more.

Under his leadership, Samsung became the cornerstone of South Korea, surpassing its Japanese and American rivals and making Korea world’s 12th-largest economy. Lee was also South Korea’s richest man and was infamous for the white-collar crims in his chaebol.

He was jailed for five years in 2017 on charges of bribery and other offences linked to former president Park Geun-Hye, before being cleared of the most serious charges on appeal and released a year later.