"You're not in charge?"
"You think too little of Samsung. Although I'm the chairman, I don't have the absolute say."
Lin Yi sipped his drink, waiting for Lee Yongjin to continue.
"In this company, there are three forces: the first one is me, the second is the Korean government, and the third is foreign capital."
Lin Yi remained silent; he was somewhat familiar with matters concerning foreign capital.
Samsung had 55% of its shares held by foreign investors.
Of that 55%, 80% was in the hands of capital giants like JPMorgan and Huaqi.
Therefore, they also had a certain degree of say in the internal affairs of Samsung.
Next comes the Korean government, which can be said to have a love-hate relationship with Samsung.
They love it for providing the country with substantial tax revenue and job opportunities, but it's precisely this that makes Samsung too big to fail, reaching a point where it could even influence political power.