On October 25th, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kin-hee passed away at the Seoul Samsung Hospital at the age of 78.

This entrepreneur, known as South Korea's "Economic President", was admitted to hospital for acute myocardial infarction in May 2014. He has not recovered and eventually passed away.

The era of Samsung Group Lee Kin Hee is completely over.

　　Yonhap News Agency reported that as of recently Li Jianxi was still able to breathe spontaneously. He was awake for 15-19 hours a day and continued to receive rehabilitation treatment. After his condition deteriorated, the rescue failed and died on the 25th.

　Take over the Samsung Group from his father Lee Bingzhe

　　Li Jianxi was born on January 9, 1942 in Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea. He is the third son of the founder of Samsung Group Li Bingzhe.

Graduated from the Economics Department of Waseda University, Japan in 1965.

In 1966, he completed a master's degree in business management at George Washington University, with a minor in mass media.

　　As the youngest son of the Li family, Li Jianxi did not receive special care from his father Li Bingzhe when he was a child, but was isolated for a long time.

However, after Li Bingzhe was completely desperate for his eldest son Li Mengxi and his second son Li Changxi, Li Jianxi gradually participated in Samsung's company management.

　　In 1987, Lee Kin-hee served as the second chairman of the Samsung Group. He transformed Samsung Electronics from a low-quality large-scale manufacturer to the most valuable technology company in Asia.

Today, the three major business segments of the Samsung Group, home appliance business, mobile phone and semiconductor business are all made bigger and stronger in the hands of Li Jianxi.

　　Samsung’s success today is largely the success of Li Jianxi’s entrepreneurial spirit. He has a tenacious will, an adventurous spirit, and a keen judgment on the future.

　　On April 6, 2020, Li Jianxi ranked 97th in the "Hurun Global Top 100 Entrepreneurs" with a fortune of RMB 92 billion, making him the richest man in Korea.

Build Samsung Semiconductor

　　In the 1960s and 1970s, the global semiconductor business was mainly in the United States and Japan.

In 1974, Li Jianxi keenly realized the importance of the semiconductor industry and suggested that Samsung enter the semiconductor industry, but his father refused.

Lee Jianxi then used his personal assets to acquire a 50% stake in a South Korean semiconductor company, making it the predecessor of Samsung's semiconductor division.

　　In 1983, Li Bingzhe finally agreed with Li Jianxi's judgment and began to continue to invest in the semiconductor business.

In order to develop semiconductors, Li Bingzhe once asked the chairman of NEC who had a good relationship to learn technology, and the chairman of NEC replied: "I can lend you money, but technology cannot be loaned to you."

　　Since then, Samsung has embarked on the road of independent development, established a research and development center in Silicon Valley, hired Korean-American electronic engineers to join, and sent Samsung's technical personnel to Silicon Valley for training.

In order to obtain semiconductor R&D talents, Li Jianxi went to Japan and Silicon Valley in the United States to dig for people many times. He had closed doors for countless times, but he was always persevering and formed Samsung's semiconductor team by digging a large number of talents with high salaries.

　　In 1983, Samsung developed a 64K DRAM, four years behind the industry; in 1992, Samsung developed a 64M DRAM, which has been synchronized with the world.

In 1993, Samsung became the first in the semiconductor memory market. Since then, for more than 20 years, Samsung has not retreated from this position. It has gradually widened the gap with latecomers. At present, Samsung's global memory market share exceeds 40%. .

Today, Samsung's semiconductor business covers many businesses such as memory chips, smart phone chips, image sensors, and foundry.

"Except for my wife and children, everything must change"

　　After Lee Kin-hee became the chairman of Samsung Group in 1987, Samsung Group was still a second-rate company in general, and its business involved TV sets, refrigerators, and washing machines.

At that time, Samsung paid more attention to quantity than quality.

　　In February 1993, Li Jianxi led the presidents of various branches to Los Angeles to investigate the sales status of Samsung products in the United States.

Li Jianxi went to many electronics stores and major department stores in the United States and saw that Samsung's electronic products were placed in an inconspicuous corner, and no one cared about it.

Sony’s products are prominently placed, and many people buy them.

Li Jianxi bought a few samples on the spot. After he came back, he opened them and found that Samsung has more parts than others, but the price is 20% cheaper. This means that Samsung’s cost is higher than its competitors but cannot sell at a good price. The product is second-rate.

　　This trip to the United States gave the Samsung Group’s management a strong stimulus, and Lee Jianxi decided to initiate the Samsung Group’s reform.

To this end, he wrote the book "Samsung New Management" as an action guide for the future development of the company.

At the beginning of the book, he put forward the slogan "Changes start with me", as Samsung's corporate philosophy and spirit of struggle: based on talents and technology, create the best products and services, contribute to human society, and actively participate Among consumers, recognize and meet global challenges, and create a better future for all mankind.

In his "new management" concept, he put special emphasis on quality management and striving for change as the core, completely changing the prevailing "quantity-centric" thinking at that time.

　　In order to initiate the reform, Li Jianxi held meetings with more than 1,800 mid-level and high-level personnel from Samsung. On June 7, 1993, he put forward the "New Management" declaration in Frankfurt, Germany. horn.

At the meeting in Frankfurt, Li Jianxi mentioned that producing substandard products is a crime. From now on, Samsung will decisively abandon its quantity-based operations and take the quality-based route.

"Except for the wife and children, replace all the rest to survive."

　　"New management" has enabled Samsung to enter a virtuous development track for quality, and created a brand-new corporate culture of Samsung.

In the 1997 Asian financial crisis, many large Korean companies collapsed one after another, but Samsung was able to survive the “new management” reform.

　　In 1997, Samsung became a partner of the Olympic Games in the field of wireless communications for the first time. Through the promotion of the Olympic Games, Samsung's products have gradually gained popularity in the global market.

"Economic President" twice received amnesty

　　Samsung Group’s revenue accounts for about 20% of South Korea’s GDP. It is said that Koreans cannot avoid three things in their lives: death, taxes and Samsung.

Lee Jianxi is known as the "Economic President" of South Korea.

　　When Li Jianxi took over Samsung, the entire Samsung Group had annual sales of no less than 10 trillion won (8.8 billion US dollars) at the time. In 2013, only Samsung Electronics had annual sales of 178 billion US dollars.

　　At present, Samsung Group's business areas cover a wide range of fields such as electronics, finance, insurance, biopharmaceuticals, construction, chemical industry, and medical care.

　　However, South Korean chaebols and political circles often "love each other and kill each other." Lee Jianxi himself was imprisoned twice but was pardoned by the president twice.

　　On July 16, 2008, Lee Jianxi was prosecuted for illegal transfer of business rights and tax evasion, and was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment with a five-year suspended sentence by the Seoul Central Branch Law.

　　On December 31, 2009, Li Jianxi received an amnesty from the President of South Korea, under the name "to help South Korea bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics", and was able to return to Samsung's management in 2010.

　　In 1996, Li Jianxi was sentenced to two years in prison for bribing two former presidents, but the sentence was suspended and he was pardoned a year later.

　　In 2014, after Li Jianxi fell ill, the Samsung Group finally gave it to his son Li Jae-yong.

However, Lee Jae-yong carried out a series of reorganizations of Samsung Group during the handover process to strengthen the control of Samsung Electronics.

South Korean prosecutors suspect that in the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, Samsung did not hesitate to depreciate due to accounting fraud to create a favorable environment for Lee Jae-yong's succession, and is investigating the degree of involvement of group executives such as Lee Jae-yong.

　　In May of this year, Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong apologized to the people in the Samsung Electronics headquarters building in Seoul for the succession of the company's management rights and labor issues.

In his apology, Li Zaiyong said that he would not let his children inherit the company's operating rights; Samsung's environment has changed, and the company will select talents regardless of academic qualifications and gender.

　　Li Jianxi and his wife have four children: the only son Li Zairong and three daughters Li Fuzhen, Li Xuxian and Li Yinxin.