Samsung names Jay Y Lee as chairman

Samsung Electronics has officially appointed third-generation heir Lee Jae-yong as executive chairman, two months after he secured a pardon of his conviction for bribing a former president in a corruption scandal that toppled a previous South Korean government.

Lee's promotion is partially symbolic as he has helmed the Samsung group in his capacity as the electronics company's vice chairman since 2014, when his late father, former chairman Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack.

Lee's legal troubles had been widely seen as a factor that prevented Samsung Electronics from quickly promoting him as chairman after the death of his father in 2020.

The 54-year-old is now navigating one of his toughest stretches as the leader of one of the world's largest makers of computer memory chips and smartphones.

The economic havoc unleashed by Russia's war on Ukraine and rising interest rates imposed by central banks to counter surging prices have slowed consumer spending on technology devices and deflated chip shipments.

Samsung and other semiconductor makers are also navigating new U.S. restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China, in part of efforts to prevent American technology from advancing China's military.

Lee's appointment came shortly after Samsung reported a 31% drop in profit for the three months through September, its first year-to-year decline in quarterly profit in nearly three years.