On the other hand, others thought, perhaps Jay Lee made a wise move.
“The story of 1993 needs to be forgotten,” Tameo Fukuda, Chairman
Lee II’s Japanese adviser and author of the company’s legendary design
report, told South Korea’s Chosun newspaper, referring to Samsung’s
Frankfurt Declaration, when Chairman Lee II stood before his executives
at the Kempinski Hotel Gravenbruch and commanded them to “change
everything except your wife and children.”
“In 1993,” Fukuda said, “there were fewer employees and the business
was smaller, so innovation was relatively easier. But now, on a larger scale,
things have become far more difficult. [Samsung] needs to be more careful
than they were in 1993. Unless they think seriously about what to do from
this point onwards, there will be no future at Samsung.”
“I cannot protect you guys anymore,” G.S. told his software executives
in a meeting shortly afterward. The crown prince was losing faith.
In May 2014, Chairman Lee suffered a heart attack in his home and
underwent CPR. He was admitted to the Samsung Medical Center and put
into a medically induced coma. Two weeks later, he opened his eyes and
awoke from the coma, according to Samsung reports. But then the
chairman had a stroke, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The chairman’s
death, many feared, was imminent.