Experts urge Lee Jae-yong to step up like Jensen Huang and Elon Musk

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong

Following the court’s decision on Feb. 5, what challenges await Samsung and Chairman Lee Jae-yong? During the seven-year span of investigation and trial, Samsung has been passive in seeking future growth opportunities and engaging in large-scale mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Concerns persist about declining morale among internal employees.

Experts advise that for Samsung to lead intense global competition, the chairman must take a forefront position. Cho Dae-gon, associate professor at the Department of Business in Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST), noted, “In today’s tech industry, owner management with a clear focus, exemplified by figures like Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Elon Musk of Tesla, and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, is proving influential.” He emphasized the necessity of a streamlined decision-making structure and strong execution capabilities to effectively adapt to rapidly changing competitive landscapes and market trends.

Cho Myeong-hyeon, global business professor at Korea University, added, “Other big tech CEOs are actively seeking partnerships and customers worldwide,” underscoring the importance of the chairman’s proactive involvement in restoring the group’s control tower and other strategic initiatives to prepare for the future.

Kim Joung-ho, electrical engineering professor at KAIST, highlighted the importance of a proactive mindset in management. He said, “In an era where competitiveness can be lost in an instant, executives must adopt the challenging perspective that ‘there is no eternal first place, and we can become second at any time.’ This calls for a corresponding shift in company culture.”

Many experts have identified large-scale M&A, aggressive talent acquisition, significant investments, and corporate culture improvement as priority tasks for Samsung. Since acquiring Harman in 2017, Samsung has failed to pursue meaningful M&A. Within Samsung, the absence of bold leadership to overcome the skyrocketing valuations of M&A targets and the stringent criteria imposed by countries worldwide to protect their domestic companies has been considered a limitation. Park Jae-keun, chairman of the Korean Society of Semiconductor and Display Technology, remarked, “For term-limited professional managers, it is not easy to have a long-term vision when focusing on short-term results, making M&A challenging.”

He added, “Samsung, with its combination of memory semiconductors and foundry operations, requires a broader range of skilled professionals across diverse sectors compared to rivals like TSMC.” He emphasized the need to prioritize the recruitment of talent from overseas, particularly in fields where competitors are leading. Former Samsung Electronics President Lim Hyung-gyu also said, “It is not an exaggeration to say that the key to building a powerful technology team that leads the world lies solely in securing excellent talent.”

Ahn Joon-mo, an associate professor at Korea University’s Department of Public Administration, suggested that “the continuous dominance of big tech companies, despite the emergence of new fields like cloud computing and artificial intelligence, is due to their persistent acquisition of talent and technology through M&A activities with promising startups and competitors.” He said that Samsung should adopt such a strategy.

Some advise to prioritize exploring entirely new fields rather than expanding into traditional business areas like semiconductors and smartphones during the M&A process. Lee Jeong-dong, a professor at Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Engineering Practice, argued that “leading global companies should focus on creating new paths rather than striving to be at the forefront of established roadmaps, such as semiconductors.” He said, “It is now challenging to consider South Korea as having the upper hand within established roadmaps.”