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Business News/ Companies / People/  Samsung chairman Lee Kun Hee stable after surgery for heart attack
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Samsung chairman Lee Kun Hee stable after surgery for heart attack

Lee underwent surgery for an acute myocardial infarction early Sunday morning at Samsung Medical Centre

Lee Kun Hee, who was treated for lung cancer in 2000 and hospitalized last August for a cold, was taken for treatment after he experienced breathing difficulty at about 11 pm. Photo: BloombergPremium
Lee Kun Hee, who was treated for lung cancer in 2000 and hospitalized last August for a cold, was taken for treatment after he experienced breathing difficulty at about 11 pm. Photo: Bloomberg

Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co. chairman Lee Kun Hee is in stable condition after suffering a heart attack, the Samsung Group said.

Lee, 72, underwent surgery for an acute myocardial infarction early this morning at Samsung Medical Centre, after being resuscitated and stabilized last night at Soonchunhyang University Hospital, according to a statement emailed from Samsung Group spokeswoman Rhee So Eui, citing the medical centre.

Lee, who was treated for lung cancer in 2000 and hospitalized last August for a cold, was taken for treatment after he experienced breathing difficulty at about 11 pm.

Since taking over the Suwon, South Korea-based business in 1987, Lee helped build it into Asia’s biggest technology company and the world’s largest maker of smartphones, televisions and memory chips. Samsung Electronics shares have surged about 137-fold since Lee replaced the group’s founder, his father Lee Byung Chull, as chairman.

The patriarch chose his third son in 1971 ahead of two older brothers because they weren’t interested in the business, according to The Lee Kun Hee Story, a biography published in 2010. Lee Kun Hee was ranked among the World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine in 2005.

Samsung Group

Lee also leads Samsung Group, which has about 74 affiliated companies globally, including the electronics business. He has an estimated net worth of $11 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In 1993, Lee began overhauling Samsung Electronics after seeing the company’s products gathering dust in the corner of an electronics shop in Los Angeles, the biography says.

By 2013, the Samsung Group affiliates generated 333.9 trillion won ($325 billion) in sales according to data from Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, which is equivalent to about 23% of South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) based on 2013 figures from the Bank of Korea.

Lee’s son, Lee Jae Yong, is vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and his daughter, Lee Boo Jin, is president of affiliate Hotel Shilla Co.

The naming of his son as vice-chairman in 2012 was a clear step in terms of succession, Heo Pil Seok, chief executive officer at Midas International Asset Management Ltd. in Seoul, said by phone on Sunday.

“This year we have seen a lot of hand-overs among the group’s affiliates—Samsung SDS Co.’s announcement that it’s going public, and Samsung Life Insurance Co. taking over Samsung Asset Management Co.," Midas’s Heo said. “This was seen by market as part of the succession speeding up." Bloomberg

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Published: 11 May 2014, 01:02 PM IST
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