corporate governance

Samsung: The Tech Monster That Conquered the World

March 22, 2020

Long before “Parasite” won the Oscar for Best Picture and K-pop groups performed on “The Tonight Show,” South Korea’s best-known export was Samsung, an obscure maker of cheap microwaves that Western expatriates in the country had taken to calling “Sam-suck.” Today, Samsung is a household name, and a bigger smartphone maker than Apple. But its path to the top was strewn with secret deals, price fixing, bribery, tax evasion and more, all of it overseen by an ultrasecretive, ultrarich family ready to use every means at its disposal to stay in command.

By Raymond Zhong
The New York Times

Mar 17, 2020

Korean pension fund backs corporate royals again

March 9, 2020

Huge pension body continues to protect troubled corporate dynasties, undermining reform efforts

By Geoffrey Cain
Asia Times

Mar 23, 2019

Samsung chief walks free after prison sentence suspended…

February 5, 2018

Lee Jae-young, the de facto leader of the huge Samsung business empire is getting out of jail sooner than expected.

By Sherisse Pham
CNN

Feb 5, 2018

Samsung’s success fails to mask fears over its image

January 31, 2018

Samsung struggles to shake off claims its culture is akin to North Korea. “Samsung is the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of the technology world,” says Geoffrey Cain, author of The Republic of Samsung, who drew the parallel with North Korea.

By Bryan Harris
Financial Times

Jan 31, 2018

What next for Samsung as chief’s ‘trial of the century’ begins

March 9, 2017

“Some South Koreans are calling Lee Jae-yong ‘s trial “the trial of the century.” “I don’t think there will be a coup d’etat,” said Geoffrey Cain, author of a forthcoming book on Samsung.

By Sherisse Pham
CNN

Mar 9, 2017

Samsung Bribery Scandal Threatens South Korea Success Story

March 4, 2017

“The thing about Samsung is, it’s a giant wound-up ball of yarn of cross-holdings,” said Geoffrey Cain, the author of a coming book on Samsung. “The setup is so complicated that sometimes I wonder if a group of smart people could find a way to tug at the right connection and find a way to loosen it up, to unravel it a bit, just to see if they could pull it away from the company.”

By Choe Sang-Hun and Paul Mozur
The New York Times

Mar 4, 2017

With Samsung under investigation for corruption, Korea must decide between justice or the economy

January 19, 2017

[Samsung Vice Chairman] Jay Y. Lee is in a vulnerable position,” Cain says. “The cross-shareholding system is like a yarn ball, if someone finds just the right place to tug, they could pull out the right part and the whole thing could fall apart overnight.

By Josh Horwitz
Quartz

Aug 24, 2017

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Geoffrey Cain In The Media

How China Perfected the Surveillance State

March 25, 2025

Geoffrey Cain on Investigative Journalism, Authoritarian Power, and The Perfect Police State | In a wide-ranging conversation with Jennifer Grossman, CEO of The Atlas Society, investigative journalist Geoffrey Cain reflects on years spent reporting inside some of the world’s most restrictive regimes — and on the research behind his book The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China’s Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future.

Articles

Thanks to AI, Apple’s China problem is only getting worse

February 21, 2025

For years, Tim Cook insisted Apple could change China from the inside. Instead, China changed Apple.
The latest evidence? Apple spent billions developing cutting-edge electric vehicle battery technology with Chinese automaker BYD, only to watch its innovations become the cornerstone of BYD’s rise to global electric vehicle dominance. Apple walked away with nothing. China walked away with everything.
This isn’t just another story about corporate research and development gone wrong. It’s a cautionary tale about how even America’s most valuable company has become trapped in China’s web of technological control — and how that web is about to tighten even further.