Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong has been acquitted by South Korea’s supreme court on charges of fraud, ending a five-year legal fight for control of the company after a 2015 merger deal. Lee, grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul and de facto leader of the conglomerate since 2014, was charged with attempting to take control of the company using stock and accounting fraud. In its last ruling, the Supreme Court in Seoul confirmed a not guilty finding, after Lee was cleared of all charges in two previous trials.
The case received widespread criticism of the technology giant, following the nation’s grappling with corporate corruption scandals involving its influential family-owned conglomerates referred to as chaebols. The Supreme Court has today explicitly asserted in its final verdict that the Samsung C&T merger and Samsung Biologics’ accounting treatment were legal,” Samsung’s lawyers stated on Thursday.
“We gratefully appreciate the court’s smart judgment after a rigorous five-year trial process. Lee and his aides were accused by prosecutors of artificially inflating the value of Lee’s pharmaceutical company, Samsung Biologics.
They contended that the premium value enabled him to purchase a bigger stake in a crucial Samsung subsidiary in a merger deal made in 2015, guaranteeing his succession. Prosecutors further asserted the merger was meant to shift control of the company away from Lee’s father, Lee Kun-hee. His father, having his legal issues, had a heart attack in 2014 and passed away in 2020.
Younger Lee was initially arrested in 2017 for bribing an aide to then-President Park Geun-hye to grease his succession at Samsung. Throughout his legal issues, he had his prison sentences truncated – one because of a special presidential pardon while he was on parole from behind bars.
Then, the government stated that the country’s largest company needed its leader to lead South Korea’s economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, a district court acquitted Lee of all the charges related to the merger costing approximately $8bn (£5.97bn) of two of its subsidiaries.
Lee was acquitted once more after prosecutors appealed the case in the High Court. The legal cases over the past decade have added to Samsung’s troubles as it struggled with intensifying competition. Samsung Electronics, which has major operations making smartphones and computer chips, has been facing declining sales in recent years. Last year, during a trial, Lee acknowledged that Samsung faces major challenges.
“The reality facing [Samsung] is harder than ever, but I will overcome and take a step forward,” he said. US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are another possible obstacle for Samsung, which ships a lot of products to America. The business community in the country welcomed the court’s ruling. The Federation of Korean Industries announced in a statement that the ruling will enable rapid decisions at the leadership level of Samsung, which will assist the economy in responding to trade turmoil with the US.
