Founder of the Samsung Group
| Life | 1910 ~ 1987 |
| Era | 근현대 |
| Clan | 경주 이씨 |
Yi Byeong-cheol was an entrepreneur from Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, who began in business by founding Samsung Sanghoe in Daegu in 1938. After liberation he established Samsung Trading in 1951, and founded Cheil Jedang (sugar) in 1953 and Cheil Wool Textile in 1954, broadening his manufacturing base.
From the 1960s he expanded into electronics and heavy industry, founding Samsung Electronics and Samsung Electro-Mechanics in 1969, and also entered media and culture by launching the Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC) in 1964 and the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper in 1965. Through such diversification he built Samsung into a business conglomerate representative of Korea.
In his later years he decided to enter the semiconductor business, laying the foundation for the semiconductor operations of today's Samsung Electronics. He also devoted attention to cultural undertakings, such as establishing the Hoam Museum of Art.
Yongin, Gyeonggi Province (within the Everland grounds)
His third son Lee Kun-hee took over the Samsung Group and expanded the semiconductor business; the line of his eldest daughter Lee In-hee split off as the Hansol Group, and that of his youngest daughter Lee Myung-hee as the Shinsegae Group.