
Samsung Group (Korean: 삼성; Hanja: 三星; RR: samseong [samsʌŋ]; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous affiliated businesses most of which operate under the Samsung brand, and is the largest chaebol (business conglomerate) in South Korea. As of 2024, Samsung has the world’s fifth-highest brand value.
Founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul as a trading company, Samsung diversified into various sectors, including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail, over the next three decades. In the late 1960s, Samsung entered the electronics industry, followed by the construction and shipbuilding sectors in the mid-1970s—areas that would fuel its future growth. After Lee died in 1987, Samsung was divided into five business groups: Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, Hansol Group, and JoongAng Group.
History of Samsung
Samsung In 1938, during the Japanese era, Lee Byung-chul (1910–1987), a member of a large landowning family in Ginei moved to nearby Taikyu and founded Mitsuboshi Trading Company (株式会社三星商会 (Kabushiki gaisha Mitsuboshi Shōkai)), or Samsung Sanghoe (주식회사 삼성상회). Samsung started out as a small trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong (now Ingyo-dong). It dealt in dried fish,locally-grown groceries and noodles.The company prospered and Lee moved its head office to Seoul in 1947. When the Korean War broke out, he was forced to leave Seoul. He started a sugar refinery in Pusan named Cheil Jedang. In 1954, Lee founded Cheil Mojik, a textiles company, and built the first plant in Chimsan-dong, Taegu. It was the largest woollen mill in the country at the time of construction.

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![]() Samsung Town, the company’s headquarters in Seoul | |
Native name | 삼성그룹 |
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Company type | Private |
Industry | Conglomerate |
Founded | 1 March 1938 (87 years ago) in Taikyu, Korea, Empire of Japan |
Founder | Lee Byung-chul |
Headquarters | Samsung Town, Seoul , South Korea |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Lee Jae-yong (chairman) |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | samsung.com |
Samsung | |
Hangul | 삼성 |
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Hanja | 三星 |
Revised Romanization | Samseong |
McCune–Reischauer | Samsŏng |
History |
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Business culture |
Industries |