Vice chairman Lee Jae-yong has been at the helm of the largest company in South Korea ever since his father suffered a heart attack in 2014 and was left confined to a hospital bed. Samsung has gradually been paving the way for Lee Jae-yong to consolidate his control and eventually succeed his father as chairman of the conglomerate. He was recently nominated for a seat on the company’s board of directors, a move which many viewed as a major indication that his elevation to the top post isn’t that far off. Analysts in South Korea are of the view that Lee Jae-yong might apologize to customers for the entire Galaxy Note 7 fiasco after he joins the board of directors on October 27.
He’s said to be under increasing pressure these days to show firmer leadership in order to steer Samsung out of these troubled times. His leadership needs to be proactive to ensure that there’s no contagion effect from the Galaxy Note 7 that can potentially impact the performance of other Samsung smartphones. Koh Dong-Jin, president of Samsung’s mobile business, has already apologized profusely for the entire debacle and has vowed to make the cause public at any cost in order to regain consumer confidence.
Lee Jae-yong has other challenges to deal with as well. Major New York-based hedge fund Elliott Associates has called for Samsung Electronics to be split in two aside from a one-time dividend payout of more than $27 billion. There have been no reports yet about whether or not Samsung is talking to Elliott about this yet but given that many shareholders are throwing its weight behind the hedge fund, the vice chairman will soon have to worry about this proposal as well.
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