Prosecutors have cast Lee Jae-yong, the heir to the Samsung empire, as a mastermind bent on breaking the law to protect his family’s wealth and power. They have accused him of paying $38 million in bribes to maintain control of Samsung without paying taxes.
By Amie Tsang
The New York Times
Aug 24, 2017
Regardless of the trial’s outcome, Lee Jae-yong ‘s reputation as a corporate leader has been damaged, say some Samsung watchers.“In the trial you come away with the impression that he is incompetent or at least he didn’t know his own company,” said Geoffrey Cain, the author of a coming book about Samsung.
By Jeyup S. Kwaak and Paul Mozur
The New York Times
Aug 23, 2017
What to read next:
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.
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.