Dec 3 (Reuters) - SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Samsung Group , South Korea's biggest business conglomerate, promoted its founder's grandson as president of its flagship firm Samsung Electronics Co , setting him up for eventual succession at the corporate giant. [ID:nTOE6B2018]
Following are some key facts about the Samsung Group and the Lee family that founded and runs it.
THE BEGINNING
Samsung was launched in 1938 when Lee Byung-chull, the son of a wealthy landowner and rice miller, opened a trading company.
To increase revenue, Lee added a trucking business but Samsung, which means "three stars", did not take off until around the 1950-1953 Korean War when Lee added a textile company, started South Korea's first major sugar refinery and built a powerful trading network.
THE GREAT EXPANSION
In the 1960s and 1970s, Lee added a dizzying array of companies to the group, including the Shinsegae department store, the JoongAng Ilbo daily newspaper, a shipbuilder, a chemical company and, most importantly, Samsung Electronics.
It was during this time that the family-run conglomerates known as "chaebol" formed a close alliance with the government run by authoritarian President Park Chung-hee to lift the economy.
Samsung was then an also-ran, with Daewoo, Hyundai and Lucky Goldstar, now known as LG, at the top of the pack.
THE TRANSITION
Lee Kun-hee, after being groomed for the top spot for years, officially took over when his father died in 1987. Father and son both went to university in Japan.
The younger Lee changed the focus of the company from a mass-producer of lower-end goods to one that would use innovation and superior products to build a respected brand name.
Under his reign, Samsung became the country's largest conglomerate with around 60 affiliates, accounting for a fifth of the country's exports. The group had assets of 344 trillion won ($300.7 billion) as of end-2009, and sales of 220 trillion won, according to its website www.samsung.co.kr.
Samsung Electronics is now the world's biggest maker of memory chips, LCD flat screens and TVs and the No.2 producer of mobile phones. The group also includes Samsung Heavy Industries, the world's No.3 shipbuilder, and South Korea's biggest life insurance company, Samsung Life.
PRESIDENTIAL PARDON
In March 2010, scandal-hit Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee returned as the chairman of Samsung Electronics, the group's flagship firm and South Korea's biggest company.
Lee stepped down from his chairmanship in 2008 after being embroiled in a scandal where Samsung Group executives were indicted on suspicion of brokering a deal to give his children greater ownership of a de facto holding firm of the group.
He was cleared of the charge but handed a suspended three-year jail term for tax evasion.
Lee was granted a presidential pardon in December 2009 to help the country bolster its bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2018. The International Olympic Committee was able to reinstate Lee after the pardon was issued.
The slightly built, soft-spoken and reclusive Lee is seen as the symbol of South Korean capitalism.
THE NEXT GENERATION
Lee Kun-hee's son, Jay Y. Lee, also known as Lee Jae-yong, began working in a Samsung Group division in 1991 and has spent many years with the flagship Samsung Electronics, where he is considered the heir to the throne.
Lee, who was chief customer officer from January 2007 to April 2008 before working with the company in China, is seen likely to take over from current chief executive Choi Gee-sung, who took up his position in December 2009. Jay Lee took a newly created chief operating officer in December 2009. ($1=1143.8 Won) ( Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Anshuman Daga) (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com))