Founder Profile
Lee Byung-chul
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Lee Byung-chul?
Lee Byung-chul is a founder of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., which was founded in 1969.
- Company founded
- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Founded
- 1969
Background
Lee Byung-chul (1910-1987) briefly studied at Waseda University in Tokyo before returning to Korea, where he ran a rice mill and then a trading business.
Founding Story
Lee Byung-chul founded Samsung Sanghoe in Daegu in 1938, trading dried fish, produce and noodles. After the Korean War he expanded into sugar refining (Cheil Jedang, 1953) and wool textiles (Cheil Industries, 1954), followed by insurance, retail and, in 1969, Samsung Electronics. In 1983 he committed the group to memory chips, the bet that later made Samsung Electronics the world's largest DRAM maker. He led the group until his death in 1987, when his son Lee Kun-hee took over.
Education: Joongdong High School. Lee Byung-chul was born in 1910.