Seoul: The Supreme Court of South Korea has acquitted Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee of all charges of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
The decision eliminates a major legal obstacle that has loomed over the tech giant’s leadership for nearly a decade. The court upheld a lower court ruling that had previously dismissed the charges stemming from a controversial $8 billion merger in 2015 between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.
Prosecutors alleged that the deal was engineered to tighten Lee’s grip on the Samsung conglomerate following his father Lee Kun-hee’s incapacitation due to a heart attack in 2014.
The Supreme Court verdict arrives at a critical time for Lee, 57, who has faced years of legal entanglements, including an 18-month imprisonment for bribery in a separate case tied to former President Park Geun-hye. Lee was later pardoned by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who cited the need for economic leadership during a national financial crisis.
Samsung’s legal team expressed deep appreciation for the court’s judgment. “We are sincerely grateful for the Supreme Court’s ruling, which confirms the legality of the merger and lifts a significant burden off the company’s future direction,” the company said in a statement.
Business groups across South Korea welcomed the verdict as a stabilizing development for the national economy. The Korea Enterprises Federation said the ruling comes at a time when global competition in advanced technologies, particularly AI and semiconductors, is rapidly intensifying. “Samsung’s role as a leading South Korean company is more critical than ever,” the federation noted.
Despite the legal victory, Lee faces formidable corporate challenges ahead. Earlier this month, Samsung reported a worse-than-expected 56 percent drop in second-quarter operating profit, largely due to a slump in AI chip sales. The steep decline has added urgency to Samsung’s need to innovate and reclaim its dominance in the global semiconductor industry.
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chipmaker and second-largest smartphone manufacturer, is now expected to intensify its efforts in next-generation chip development and artificial intelligence technologies.
