Jay Y. Lee
Samsung · Seoul
Net worth
$27.3B
Today
+$650M+2.44%Past month
−$4.0B−12.78%As of Nov 11, 2026, 1:50 PM EST
Jay Y. Lee is the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics and leader of the country's biggest conglomerate. He was appointed to the role in 2022, which had been left vacant since the death of his father in 2020. In 2017, he was jailed for bribing a confidante of former President Park Geun-hye, but was released in 2018. In 2021, through a retrial, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, and then received a presidential pardon in 2022. In 2024, Lee was acquitted of stock manipulation charges related to a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that prosecutors said helped Lee cement control of the Samsung conglomerate. Lee and his family are in the process of paying 12 trillion won (about $8.5 billion) in inheritance taxes following the 2020 death of patriarch Lee Kun-hee.
Net worth over time
Principal holdings
7 positions| Company | Industry | Share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
Samsung Electronics KOREA: 005930-KR | Technology | 53.2% | $14.5B |
Cheil Industries KOREA: 028260-KR | Technology | 22.5% | $6.1B |
Samsung Life Insurance KOREA: 032830-KR | Technology | 14.0% | $3.8B |
Private and other holdings | Technology | 7.4% | $2.0B |
Samsung SDS KOREA: 018260-KR | Technology | 2.3% | $619M |
Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd. KOREA: 028050-KR | Technology | 0.5% | $146M |
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. KOREA: 000810-KR | Technology | 0.1% | $20M |
Also known for
- He attended Harvard Business School but did not graduate as he was called back to Seoul amid his studies.
- Lee was friends with Steve Jobs and attended his private memorial service at Stanford University in 2011.