Lee Jae-yong marks four years leading Samsung amid record profits and growth challenges

Lee Jae-yong marked four years at the helm of Samsung Electronics without a formal celebration, continuing his low-profile approach of touring plants and engaging staff. The conglomerate posted third-quarter operating profit exceeding 100 trillion won, a rise that would outpace rivals like Nvidia and Apple and make it the world’s top-earning tech firm for the quarter. This performance is driven by a global surge in memory-chip demand and Samsung’s successful re-entry into high-bandwidth memory production, including the launch of HBM4.

Lee is also steering the group toward future growth areas, acquiring firms such as Germany’s FlaktGroup, U.S.-based Masimo’s audio business, digital-health startup Xealth, and ZF’s advanced driver-assistance systems via Harman, while turning Rainbow Robotics into a subsidiary. Despite these advances, Samsung’s Device Experience division and its nascent robotics unit remain unprofitable, and disputes over performance bonuses have split the workforce between semiconductor and non-semiconductor camps, posing a significant internal challenge.