SEOUL: The jailed de facto leader of the giant Samsung group went on trial Thursday over an allegedly manipulated takeover in proceedings that effectively put South Korea’s system of conglomerate control in the dock.
Samsung — whose flagship subsidiary is among the world’s biggest smartphone and computer chip makers — is by far the largest of the family-controlled empires known as chaebols that dominate business in South Korea, the world’s 12th-largest economy.
Chaebol families often have only a small ownership stake in their empires, but maintain control through complex webs of cross-shareholdings between units.
Lee Jae-yong, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and the grandson of the group’s founder, is accused of stock manipulation, breach of trust and other offenses when two other subsidiaries, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, merged in 2015.
A court spokesman confirmed to AFP that Lee was present in court.
Lee was the largest shareholder in Cheil Industries, and critics say Samsung sought to artificially lower the price of C&T to give him a bigger stake in the merged entity — a key part of the Samsung structure — consolidating his grip on the conglomerate ahead of his father’s death last year.
He is already serving a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for bribery, embezzlement and other offenses in connection with the corruption scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-hye.
Lee’s father, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, died in October, leaving his heirs a vast fortune and an inheritance tax bill of around 13 trillion won ($11.7 billion), with the first instalment due by the end of this month.
Samsung is crucial to South Korea’s economic health, and is active in sectors ranging from construction to health care to insurance.
But Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean Studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP: “The most problematic aspect is the attempted continuation of the unchallenged dynastic rule over a company which is responsible over 20 percent of South Korea’s GDP.
“Samsung’s main stakeholders are its shareowners, including the minor ones, its workers and South Korean society as a whole,” he said.
“It is too big to be a dynastic property.”
The trial was originally due to start last month but was delayed when Lee had emergency surgery for appendicitis.
He apologized last May for some governance issues at the group, pledging to ensure “there will be no more controversy over the succession” and that he would not allow his children to take over from him at the firm.
Samsung boss on trial over ‘manipulated’ takeover deal
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Samsung boss on trial over ‘manipulated’ takeover deal
- Lee Jae-yong, the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and the grandson of the group’s founder, is accused of stock manipulation, breach of trust and other offenses
‘The future is renewables,’ Indian energy minister tells World Economic Forum
- ‘In India, I can very confidently say, affordability (of renewables) is better than fossil fuel energy,’ says Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi during panel discussion
- Renewables are an increasingly important part of the energy mix and the technology is evolving rapidly, another expert says at session titled ‘Unstoppable March of Renewables?’
BEIRUT: “The future is renewables,” India’s minister of new and renewable energy told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
“In India, I can very confidently say, affordability (of renewables) is better than fossil fuel energy,” Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi said during a panel discussion titled “Unstoppable March of Renewables?”
The cost of solar power has has fallen steeply in recent years compared with fossil fuels, Joshi said, adding: “The unstoppable march of renewables is perfectly right, and the future is renewables.”
Indian authorities have launched a major initiative to install rooftop solar panels on 10 million homes, he said. As a result, people are not only saving money on their electricity bills, “they are also selling (electricity) and earning money.”
He said that this represents a “success story” in India in terms of affordability and “that is what we planned.”
He acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve reliability and consistency of supplies, and plans were being made to address this, including improved storage.
The other panelists in the discussion, which was moderated by Godfrey Mutizwa, the chief editor of CNBC Africa, included Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power; Catherine MacGregor, CEO of electricity company ENGIE Group; and Pan Jian, co-chair of lithium-ion battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Asked by the moderator whether she believes “renewables are unstoppable,” MacGregor said: “Yes. I think some of the numbers that we are now facing are just proof points in terms of their magnitude.
“In 2024, I think it was 600 gigawatts that were installed across the globe … in Europe, close to 50 percent of the energy was produced from renewables in 2024. That has tripled since 2004.”
Renewables are an increasingly important and prominent part of the energy mix, she added, and the technology is evolving rapidly.
“It’s not small projects; it’s the magnitude of projects that strikes me the most, the scale-up that we are able to deliver,” MacGregor said.
“We are just starting construction in the UAE, for example. In terms of solar size it’s 1.5 gigawatts, just pure solar technology. So when I see in the Middle East a round-the-clock project with just solar and battery, it’s coming within reach.
“The technology advance, the cost, the competitiveness, the size, the R&D, the technology behind it and the pace is very impressive, which makes me, indeed, really say (renewables) is real. It plays a key role in, obviously, the energy demand that we see growing in most of the countries.
“You know, we talk a lot about energy transition, but for a lot of regions now it is more about energy additions. And renewables are indeed the fastest to come to market, and also in terms of scale are really impressive.”
Mutizwa asked Pan: “Are we there yet, in terms of beginning to declare mission accomplished? Are renewables here to stay?”
“I think we are on the road but (its is) very promising,” Pan replied. There is “great potential for future growth,” he added, and “the technology is ready, despite the fact that there are still a lot of challenges to overcome … it is all engineering questions. And from our perspective, we have been putting in a lot of resources and we are confident all these engineering challenges will be tackled along the way.”
Responding to the same question, Arcelli said: “Yes, I think we are beyond there on power, but on other sectors we are way behind … I would argue today that the technology you install by default is renewables.
“Is it a universal truth nowadays that renewables are the cheapest?” asked Mutizwa.
“It’s the cheapest everywhere,” Arcelli said.
