The flood of obituaries for Samsung Electronics
Chairman Lee Kun-Hee since his death over the
weekend have mostly shared his most defining
quote: “Change everything except for your wife
and children.”
Lee’s rant against what he saw as complacency
during a senior management meeting in 1993
reflects the demanding leadership that helped
the company grow from an obscure maker of
cheap televisions into a technology giant.
Questions loom over what’s next as Samsung,
South Korea’s largest company by far, begins
an era led by Lee’s son and corporate heir,
Lee Jae-yong.
The younger Lee has been calling the shots
since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.
He now faces immense pressure to navigate
Samsung’s transition beyond its core hardware
business into increasingly diverse technologies
and services.