Samsung promotes next gens

Samsung Electronics Ltd, a division of South Korea's largest conglomerate the Samsung Group, announced 3 December that third-generation Lee Jae Yong (pictured) has been promoted to president at the family-controlled firm.

Lee Jae Yong, 42, had previously served as executive vice president at Samsung Electronics, the flagship company of the Samsung conglomerate. The group also said that Lee Boojin, Lee Jae Yong's sister, has become the president of Samsung Everland Inc, chief executive officer of Hotel Shilla Co and adviser to Samsung C&T Corp.

Both announcements signal a further step in the succession plan that, if Lee Boojin and Lee Jae Yong prove themselves capable, may eventually see either next gen lead the family-controlled conglomerate.

Their father, Lee Kun Hee, is chairman of Samsung Electronics and former chairman of the Samsung Group. He was forced to step down from leading the group in 2008 after being convicted of tax evasion. (Continue reading here) 

But Lee Kun Hee received an official pardon for his convictions from the South Korean president in December 2009, making his reinstatement at the company possible. (Continue reading here) 

Samsung was founded in 1938 by Lee Jae Yong and Lee Boojin's grandfather but it was his son Lee Kun Hee, who built the business into the multi-billion dollar business it has become. Today, Samsung Electronics had 2009 revenues of €92 billion, and is the world's largest maker of memory chips and the world's second-largest mobile phone handset maker.

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