The board members of the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics was not among the topics discussed at Samsung’s recent board meeting on Tuesday. Samsung Electronics executive chairman and chairman Lee Jae-yong joined the company’s board in 2016 but left in October 2019 when he faced bribery charges related to former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Samsung’s board met this week to set a date for this year’s shareholder meeting. According to a company statement, the board will discuss three topics at its upcoming meeting.
The three issues involved the company’s financial statements, setting a cap on executive pay and appointing Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee as an in-house executive. However, the re-joining of Lee Jae-yong to the board was not on the agenda. While there has been recent speculation that Jay Y. Lee may soon rejoin the board as a symbol of his taking on more management responsibilities, these recent reports suggest the executive chairman may not be on the company’s board this year.
The de facto leader was also left out at a meeting late last year, when CEOs from various branches of the Samsung conglomerate discussed the recession, falling semiconductor prices and the best course of action heading into 2023.
In recent months, Lee Jae-yong has made several business trips to meet with senior officials and executives and strengthen Samsung’s overseas ties. His latest 10-day business trip included visits to Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam with the aim of identifying the next sustainable growth driver for Samsung “for decades to come”.
Last year, Lee Jae-yong also met with the head of BMW at the BMW Driving Center in Yeongjongdo to discuss cooperation on electric vehicle batteries. The de facto leader also made his first business trip to the UAE as chairman, where he attended a private forum chaired by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
