Lee Jae-yong's 4-year bet on chips pays off as Samsung profit surges

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday marked his 4th anniversary at the helm of Korea’s largest conglomerate. With Samsung Electronics set to become one of the world’s most profitable companies with over 100 trillion won in operating profit in the third quarter, Lee’s efforts to restore the company’s competitiveness in semiconductor and foster future growth businesses are becoming increasingly evident. According to Samsung Electronics, the company will not hold an official ceremony to celebrate the anniversary, and Lee will also not issue a separate statement. Lee was promoted from vice chairman to executive chairman on Oct. 27, 2022, but both before and after his promotion, he has generally refrained from making public statements about the company at formal events, focusing instead on visiting business sites and meeting employees. When Lee has spoken publicly, it has generally been at times when the company faced a crisis. Upon taking on the chairmanship, he wrote a message calling for investments in technologies that did not yet exist. In March last ye