From Jail to Retirement, Samsung Loses Top Execs

First, Samsung’s de facto leader, Jay Y. Lee, got sentenced to jail on corruption charges. Then, one of the possible contenders to step into the top seat, Kwon Oh-hyun, announced his shock retirement as chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Co. It’s been a year to forget for the top executives at South Korea’s biggest conglomerate. Not so much for shareholders, though; the stock just keeps going up.

Jay Y.was sentenced to five years in prison in August after a court convicted him of bribing his way to greater control of the Samsung empire his family founded. Heir to the country’s biggest fortune, Jay Y. got embroiled in an influence-peddling scandal that led to the ouster of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye. The scandal centered on payments by the country’s family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol, to foundations controlled by the president’s friend, Choi Soon-sil. Jay’s trial shone a spotlight on the close ties between business groups and the political elite, a growing source of frustration for ordinary South Koreans.