Samsung’s Lee returns from Sun Valley, says ‘We’ll work hard’

Chairman reconnects with global tech leaders as chip slump deepens and court ruling nears

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong returned to Seoul on July 14 following a low-profile appearance at the 2025 Sun Valley Conference in the United States, a private annual retreat known for convening the global elite in technology, media, and finance.

Arriving at Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center (SGBAC) in the early hours, Lee told reporters, “It’s been a tiring trip with many commitments.” When asked about Samsung’s earnings outlook for the second half, his reply was brief: “We’ll work hard.”

His remarks come at a challenging time for the South Korean tech giant. Samsung’s second-quarter operating profit fell 55.9% from a year earlier to 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion), as its semiconductor division continued to struggle. Analysts cite eroding competitiveness in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips and a slowdown in foundry utilization, partly due to heightened U.S. restrictions on advanced chip exports to China.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong./News1

Lee had attended the Sun Valley Conference in Idaho from July 9 to 13, a gathering organized annually by Allen & Co. since 1983. While the conference is held behind closed doors, its attendee list reads like a who’s who of global tech: this year’s reported guests included Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Lee has long viewed the event as a critical networking platform. Since 2002, when he was still a Samsung executive vice president, he has made near-annual appearances. Notably, in 2014, he met with Apple’s Cook at Sun Valley—a conversation widely seen as paving the way for the companies’ mutual withdrawal of smartphone patent lawsuits outside the U.S.

In 2017, while standing trial over influence-peddling charges, Lee described Sun Valley as “the most important and demanding business trip of the year.” That year marked the beginning of a legal saga that would keep him from attending the event for several years.

Now, Lee’s return to the global business stage comes just days ahead of another critical moment: the Supreme Court of Korea is scheduled to rule on July 17 in a high-profile case concerning alleged illegal merger activity and accounting fraud. Lee has been acquitted in both lower court rulings.