The appellate court today ruled in favor and clearing Samsung Electronics’ Chairman JY Lee of any financial wrongdoings. The Seoul high court stood by the lower court’s verdict from last February and found Lee not guilty of any accounting fraud or stock manipulation during the 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.
Lee was accused of inflating the valuation of Cheil Industries, making the merger very critical for him to retain control of the chaebol after his father’s death.
Although there’s a chance the prosecution may appeal in the Supreme Court, there’s some hope that the apex court will uphold the original decision.
Today’s decision can also be reassuring to the company as well as shareholders, as the decade-long legal battle made the company conservative in its approach and delayed its responses for market-disrupting technologies related to AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
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