Samsung Heir Granted Parole
Samsung Electronics (005730.KS) Vice-Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been granted parole for the remainder of his 30 month prison term, after public opinion pressure from some 5m Samsung shareholders in South Korea, his exemplary behavior during his incarceration and the impact of COVID-19 gave the Justice Minister the impetus to move Lee out of prison and back into the public eye. However, South Korean law imposes a 5 year employment ban on those who commit economic crimes and parole will limit an traveling outside of the country, so much will depend on the court’s granting an exemption from those rules.
In particular, Samsung has been sitting on a decision as to where it will build its next semiconductor fab, with the final decision likely being held until Lee’s parole. The $17b project has been testing the financial incentive waters for months, with a site in Williamson County, the latest filing by the company, next to another proposed site in Travis County, while Genesee County in New York and sites in Arizona have also been proposed. Whether a final decision can tacitly be made by Lee before an exemption is granted leaves a lot to lawyers, but the slow decision making processes that Samsung Electronics has been following should soon come to an end, and we note that the recent examination of Samsung’s mobile business by one of the company’s auditing groups (see our note 08-05-21), will likely result in management of directional changes.
In particular, Samsung has been sitting on a decision as to where it will build its next semiconductor fab, with the final decision likely being held until Lee’s parole. The $17b project has been testing the financial incentive waters for months, with a site in Williamson County, the latest filing by the company, next to another proposed site in Travis County, while Genesee County in New York and sites in Arizona have also been proposed. Whether a final decision can tacitly be made by Lee before an exemption is granted leaves a lot to lawyers, but the slow decision making processes that Samsung Electronics has been following should soon come to an end, and we note that the recent examination of Samsung’s mobile business by one of the company’s auditing groups (see our note 08-05-21), will likely result in management of directional changes.
RSS Feed