Lee Kun-hee
Overview
Lee Kun-hee (January 9, 1942 – October 25, 2020) was the second chairman of Samsung Group. He led the group for about 33 years from 1987 to 2020 and grew Samsung into a global company in semiconductors, mobile phones, and displays; he is a representative Korean business leader. Born as the third son of founder Lee Byung-chul, he fundamentally reformed Samsung's corporate makeup in 1993 through the New Management declaration symbolized by "Change everything except your wife and children." After collapsing from acute myocardial infarction in 2014, he was ill for more than six years and died in October 2020. After his death, the approximately 12 trillion won inheritance tax and the donation of about 23,000 artworks also left a major social impact.
Main Content
Life and management succession
Born in Daegu in 1942 as the third son of Lee Byung-chul, he studied at the School of Commerce at Waseda University in Japan and at the George Washington University School of Business (MBA) in the United States. He joined JoongAng Ilbo in 1966, gained experience in media management, and joined Samsung Group in 1968. After serving as vice chairman in 1979, he became group chairman in November 1987 upon the death of his father, Lee Byung-chul. In 1988, he also served as chairman of Samsung Electronics and led the group's reorganization around advanced industries such as semiconductors and communications.
New Management declaration and quality management
In June 1993, at a group executive seminar held in Frankfurt, Germany, he announced the New Management declaration centered on "Change everything except your wife and children" and "From quantity management to quality management." This led to a 7 a.m. start to the workday, the right to stop the line, and other measures; in 1995, the Anycall burning ceremony for defective products instilled quality-first principles throughout the organization. The reforms of this period are evaluated as a decisive turning point that later allowed Samsung to secure competitiveness in global markets.
Global No. 1 in semiconductors and mobile
In the 1990s, he made bold "contrarian investments" in memory semiconductors, achieving No. 1 in the global DRAM market in 1992; afterward, Samsung rose to the top of the world in memory semiconductors, displays, and smartphones in succession. In 2012, Samsung Electronics became No. 1 in global smartphone sales, and the group's revenue expanded from the 30 trillion won range in the early 1990s to the 300 trillion won range in the 2010s. He emphasized a philosophy of bold preemptive investment, saying, "We do not predict the future; we create it."
Crises and legal risks
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, he led the group's restructuring; in 2008, as a result of the Samsung special prosecution, he was found guilty of tax evasion and breach of trust and received a special pardon in August 2009. Even after returning as chairman of Samsung Electronics in 2010, he was embroiled in judicial controversies several times during the group's governance restructuring, and these remain major examples in social debates over the governance structure of Korean chaebols.
Illness, death, and inheritance
In May 2014, he collapsed from acute myocardial infarction at his home in Seoul and was hospitalized at Samsung Medical Center, effectively stepping back from management; the group was reorganized under Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. He died on October 25, 2020, at age 78. His family paid the largest inheritance tax in Korea, exceeding 12 trillion won, in five annual installments.
Lee Kun-hee Collection
In April 2021, the family donated about 23,000 artworks from the deceased's collection to the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and others. This "Lee Kun-hee Collection," which includes many National Treasures and Treasures, is evaluated as an event that changed the landscape of Korean art, and construction of related donation galleries is also being pursued.
Recent Developments
As of 2024–2025, Samsung is operating under Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and the deceased's inheritance tax installments continue until 2026. In 2024, marking the fourth anniversary of his death, discourse re-examining the spirit of New Management was active within and outside the group; in 2025, a special exhibition commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Lee Kun-hee Collection donation and discussions on building a donation gallery continued. Meanwhile, amid intensifying semiconductor competition in HBM and foundry, the deceased's management philosophy of "preemptive investment" and "super-gap" is being discussed again, while critical reviews of chaebol management legacies such as governance restructuring and labor union issues are also proceeding in parallel.
Related Topics
- [[삼성그룹]]
- [[삼성전자]]
- [[이병철]]
- [[이재용]]
- [[이건희 컬렉션]]