Lee Jae-yong marks four years as Samsung chairman

Lee Jae-yong completed four years as chairman of Samsung Electronics on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. There was no ceremony and no special message for the date, according to The Korea Herald and The Korea Times. Lee was instead scheduled to spend the anniversary at a Samsung research and development center for robotics.

Yonhap, Chosunbiz, The Chosun Daily and Maeil Business Newspaper each cast the visit as part of an effort to bring robots into commercial use in Korea. Samsung shares gained 4.23% that day to 222,000 won (US$167.71). The date falls two days before the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

From a chip slump to a 100 trillion won quarter

Korean outlets measured Lee’s four years largely by how far profit has turned. The Korea Herald set this year’s earnings against the semiconductor slump that marked the opening months of his term. According to The Korea Times, third-quarter operating profit above 100 trillion won puts Samsung on course to rank among the most profitable companies anywhere.

Samsung’s own numbers show the scale. In a preliminary filing on Oct 8, the company put consolidated third-quarter operating profit at 107.4 trillion won (about US$81.1 billion) on revenue of 195 trillion won. Operating profit was 20.01% higher than in the second quarter and 782.5% higher than a year earlier. It is the highest in at least six quarters. A preliminary figure is Samsung’s early estimate, filed before full results; Samsung reports earnings twice each quarter.

The climb over the past six quarters looks like this:

Quarter	Operating profit (trillion won)	Basis
Q2 2025	4.68	Reported
Q3 2025	12.17	Reported
Q4 2025	20.07	Reported
Q1 2026	57.23	Reported
Q2 2026	89.49	Reported
Q3 2026	107.4	Preliminary

With the memory business recovering, Lee’s attention has shifted, The Korea Herald reported. It said his priorities now are protecting Samsung’s lead in technology and expanding into robotics, automotive electronics and manufacturing driven by AI. The anniversary trip to a robotics lab fits the first of those new areas.

Labor issues still on the table

Not every anniversary assessment was upbeat. In a piece published Oct 26, JoongAng Daily weighed what it called record chip profit against the company’s labor problems and described Lee’s fortunes as mixed.

Those problems were in view the week before. On Oct 22, Pacific Tape reported that Samsung’s union was pressing for an overhaul of chip bonuses. Samsung has made no public response tied to the anniversary on that issue.

A rebound inside a steep October decline

The stock ended Monday, Oct 26, at 213,000 won, down 1.16%, as the KOSPI fell 1.46% to 5,469.47. Both turned higher on Tuesday. Samsung rose 4.23% and the KOSPI gained 3.09% to close at 5,638.34.

The rebound left the shares well below where the month began. From Oct 2 to Oct 27 they lost 19.57% in won terms and 17.93% in US dollars. That matters well beyond Samsung’s own holders. On Oct 27 the company made up 30.22% of the total market value of the KOSPI 200, Korea’s main index of large companies, so a swing in this one stock moves much of any fund that tracks Korea’s market.

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Samsung holds its third-quarter earnings conference call on Oct 29 at 10:00 KST, its first full results discussion since the preliminary filing. SK hynix also reports this week, as Pacific Tape covered in its look at results week.

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Information only, not investment advice.