Samsung succession in disarray as Lee criminal case advances

(Jan 17): The long-orchestrated plan to cement Jay Y. Lee’s position atop Samsung Group may put him in jail instead, raising questions about who would step in to run South Korea’s biggest conglomerate in the aftermath.

Prosecutors are seeking Lee’s arrest on allegations including bribery and embezzlement, which if proven could prompt him to relinquish duties at the family business. Potential replacements include executives running key divisions of the dominant electronics business, as well as a sister -- hotel executive Lee Boo-jin. While a long shot, her anointment would mark a seismic shift in the way the nation’s patriarchal empires are run.

After spending years following his father’s footsteps to the chairman’s seat of Samsung Group, Lee is trying now to avoid the missteps that triggered his father’s two criminal convictions. Even if the accusations against him involving South Korea’s president are proven in court, it’s still possible Lee could return to the company later or even call the shots from behind bars, just as executives from Hyundai Motor Co. and SK Group have done.

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