Chapter 31

In our current mainstream narrative, we should also make this appeal: for a powerful empire, the reasons for its decline sometimes come not from outside, but from within. Inheriting China's five thousand years of history is an exceedingly complicated matter. In a family enterprise of imperial scale like Samsung, where internal and external interests were tangled beyond measure, succession was naturally an extremely sensitive issue. Lee Kun-hee had fought through a bloody storm, and he truly had some ability. Under his leadership, the company had continued to grow and expand. But no matter what...

People were people. They would grow old, fall ill, and die. There would always come a day when power had to be handed over and someone replaced. But unlike his father, he did not have to consider whom to pass the crown prince's position to, because he had only one son, Lee Jae-yong. Did that mean everything would go smoothly? Not really. If he wanted to leave without worries, he still had to face three problems. The first was economic: the enormous inheritance. The second was political: although the group appeared to be flourishing, its massive scale and decentralized authority had left the inside in disarray. The third was the widespread internal and external doubt over Lee Jae-yong's abilities, which placed immense pressure on him. After all, when one son had been chosen from three, he had at least gone through a process of elimination. But when there was only one son, people would inevitably have their doubts. So how could he solve these problems?

If he were to inherit all the assets, the Samsung fortune was worth $5.7 billion. It was not that he could not afford the money, but he did not want to pay it. So there was nothing anyone could do about