Samsung Billionaire’s Fate at Risk Despite Role in Virus Fight
- Samsung’s Lee is on trial for graft and faces jail time
- Samsung’s approaching a watershed moment in Korean politics
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While technology billionaires have been among the most visible champions of the fight against Covid-19, perhaps none has as much at stake as Jay Y. Lee., Samsung’s anointed heir.
South Korea’s largest corporation and its de facto leader have been key players in one of Asia’s most successful coronavirus containment campaigns. Since March, Samsung has dispatched its own doctors to hard-hit zones, flown Korean engineers overseas via its private jet, doled out roughly $39 million worth of aid globally and played a central role in ramping up production of testing kits -- hailed by healthcare experts as a turning point in Korea’s battle against the disease.