Consumers are fickle. The love of a beautiful product in their hands and
a compelling brand are ultimately what matter. Even after an embarrassing
recall, consumers move on quickly and forget easily.
Samsung, with its incredible catalog of products, was poised to remain a
major player in technology. All of which posed an awkward question for
the company. If the empire was posting record profits while its king-in-
waiting sat in jail, then what was the point in having a king-in-waiting?
Samsung’s public relations department was noticeably silent about the
matter.
“It’s a kind of tragedy,” said the CEO of Samsung’s semiconductors
division, Oh-hyun (O.H.) Kwon, at a Q&A session at the Economic Club in
Washington, DC, on October 19, 2017, shortly after he announced his
resignation. “The business itself is going well today. That means for the
short term, we have not [suffered] a big impact. But the long-term...We
need some advice, some of the chairman’s group’s advice.”
Jay was supposed to lay down the grand vision for the next decade or
more. And now he was sitting in a jail cell.
—
ON AUGUST 2, 2017, Jay Lee appeared in court to stand trial; crowds of
well-wishers and opponents gathered outside the courthouse.
“What did Jay Y. Lee do wrong? He was only trying to make our nation
greater by making Samsung greater!”
“If you don’t like Samsung, just go to North Korea!”
“Free Jay Y. Lee!”
“Punish Jay Y. Lee!”
Jay Lee entered the courtroom as throngs of demonstrators held up
signs, chanting and shouting. G.S. Choi and three other former Samsung
executives from the Tower joined him as defendants in the courtroom.
The windowless fifth-floor courtroom at the Seoul District Court was
packed with lawyers, reporters, and courtroom recorders. Jay’s defense
attorneys were wiping their foreheads with handkerchiefs in the heat. The
question they had to answer: Was Jay Lee a well-meaning patriot bullied by
South Korea’s president into making payments? Or was he a callous and
corrupt businessman offering bribes to gain the favor of the highest office
in the land?