Lee Byung-chul

Lee Byung-chul (; 12 February 1910 – 19 November 1987 ) was a South Korean businessman who founded the Samsung Group, the country's largest chaebol (conglomerate). Lee founded Samsung in 1938, at the age of 28. He is widely recognized as one of the most successful business magnates in South Korean history.

Early life and education Lee was born on 12 February 1910 in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, then part of the Korean Empire. He was born the youngest son of four siblings to father Lee Chan-woo and mother Kwon Jae-lim. He was the son of a wealthy land-owning yangban family, a branch of the Gyeongju Lee clan.

He attended high school at Joongdong High School in Seoul, and graduated in 1929.

In April 1930, he enrolled in the Department of Political Economy at Waseda University in Tokyo. In 1970, in recognition of his achievements, Waseda University conferred an honorary doctorate upon him. He was also an active member of the Waseda Korean Alumni Association, where he took great care of younger compatriots such as Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho and POSCO chairman Park Tae-joon.

In 1982, Lee was awarded an honorary doctorate from Boston College.

Career

Samsung Lee established a trucking business and real estate business in Daegu on 1 March 1938, which he named Samsung Trading Co, the forerunner to Samsung. Samsung means which explains the initial corporate logos.

By 1945, Samsung was transporting goods throughout Korea and to other countries. The company was based in Seoul by 1947.

Korean War Samsung was one of the ten largest "trading companies" when the Korean War started in 1950.

With the conquest of Seoul by the North Korean army, Lee was forced to relocate his business to Busan. The massive influx of U.S. troops and equipment into Busan over the next year and a half of the war proved to be highly beneficial to Lee's trading company.

Cultural and art In 1965, he established the Samsung Culture Foundation to promote a broad range of programs to enrich Korean cultural life.

Samsung Electronics In 1969, Samsung Electronics Manufacturing (renamed Samsung Electronics) and later merged with Samsung-Sanyo Electric. Samsung Electronics Manufacturing had 45 employees and about sales in 1970 and it made household electronics exclusively. Ho-Am is located a short distance from the Everland park, one of South Korea's popular amusement parks (Everland is also owned by the Samsung Group).

Family tree Lee's family tree Source:

Lee's children with

1st daughter: , The founder of Hansol and spouse of its former chairman, Dr. Cho Wan-hae, M.D 1st son: , Founder of CJ Group (in which he lost the lawsuit alongside Lee Kun-hee), father of current CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun 2nd son: , Founder of Saehan 2nd daughter: Lee Suk-hee, spouse of LG board director Koo Cha-hak, younger brother of the emeritus chairman, Koo Cha-kyung and paternal uncle of the former deceased chairman, Koo Bon-moo 3rd daughter: Lee Soon-hee 4th daughter: Lee Deok-hee, widow of Lee Jeong-gi 3rd son: Lee Kun-hee, 2nd chairman of Samsung, father of 3rd and present Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin 5th daughter: Lee Myung-hee, spouse of Chung Jae-eun, chairwoman of Shinsegae group and mother of Chung Yong-jin.

Lee's children with Kuroda

4th son: Lee Tae-whi 6th daughter: Lee Hye-ja