Samsung chair Jay Y. Lee acquitted of stock manipulation charges

A Seoul Central District Court judge delivered the verdict after about an hour’s recitation of the ruling, which focused on whether evidence pointed to Lee manipulating a deal years ago to gain more influence within Samsung. His acquittal lifts a weight off the word’s largest maker of memory chips and displays, which is struggling with a global downturn and a stiff challenge from Apple Inc. in smartphones and SK Hynix Inc. in the nascent field of AI.

Lee, 55, was embroiled for years in legal struggles that rocked the tech establishment and triggered a political scandal that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye. In November, prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence along with a 500 million won ($376,000) fine for Lee on charges of stock-price rigging and accounting fraud. The charges were connected to the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates that prosecutors said helped cement Lee’s control of the conglomerate.

Special prosecutors first indicted him in 2017 on separate charges of bribery and corruption, alleging Samsung provided horses and other payments to a confidante of Park’s in exchange for government support in his succession. He was convicted and spent time in and out of jail until he was paroled in 2021.

In 2022, he secured a presidential pardon from the graft charges, allowing him to formally take the helm of the conglomerate that his grandfather created in 1938. 

Monday’s case was related to the original charges, and centers on whether Lee and Samsung used illegal means to help him take control of the Samsung Group, which also encompasses shipbuilding, construction and finance. Lee has denied wrongdoing and in his final argument in November, he