, Columnist
Samsung's Lee Built a Global Name, Not a Global Company
It’s time for his successors to make the business more international. A share sale could be just the thing.
Empire-builder.
Photographer: JEAN CHUNG/Bloomberg
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Lee Kun-hee turned Samsung into a household name and a global brand. But he never really managed to transform Samsung Electronics Co. into a truly international company.
Samsung, the name, can be found across all corners of the globe. And inside almost every device on the planet — stamped on memory and storage chips, as well as display screens. That’s thanks to Lee, who died at 78 over the weekend after many years of hospitalization and a diminishing role in his empire’s operation.