[3] Founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul as a trading company, Samsung diversified into various sectors, including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail, over the next three decades.

Samsung's construction branch was awarded contracts to build one of the two Petronas Towers in Malaysia, Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the Burj Khalifa in United Arab Emirates.

[30] In 1993, Lee Kun-hee sold off ten of Samsung Group's subsidiaries, downsized the company, and merged other operations to concentrate on three industries: electronics, engineering and chemicals.

In 2007, former Samsung chief lawyer Kim Yong Chul claimed that he was involved in bribing and fabricating evidence on behalf of the group's chairman, Lee Kun-hee, and the company.

Kim also told the media that he was "sidelined" by Samsung after he refused to pay a $3.3 million bribe to the U.S. Federal District Court judge presiding over a case where two of their executives were found guilty on charges related to memory chip price-fixing.

The case was commenced after the commission received complaints stating that the agency hired students to attack competitors of Samsung Electronics in online forums.

[52][53][54] In 2018, they inaugurated the world's largest mobile manufacturing facility in Noida, India, in the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

[58] Samsung has a powerful influence on South Korea's economic development, politics, media and culture and has been a major driving force behind the "Miracle on the Han River".

Critics claimed that Samsung knocked out smaller businesses, limiting choices for South Korean consumers and sometimes colluded with fellow giants to fix prices while bullying those who investigate.

It expanded its contract development service lab to San Francisco, U.S. Samsung Biologics is listed on the Korean Exchange stock market (number 207940).

Its principal products are bulk carriers, container vessels, crude oil tankers, cruisers, passenger ferries, material handling equipment steel and bridge structures.

[98] On 5 December 2012, the European Union's antitrust regulator fined Samsung SDI and several other major companies for fixing prices of TV cathode-ray tubes in two cartels lasting nearly a decade.

Since its foundation in the 1990s, the Samsung Medical Center has successfully incorporated and developed an advanced model with the motto of becoming a "patient-centered hospital", a new concept in Korea.

In 2010, the Samsung Medical Center and pharmaceutical multinational Pfizer agreed to collaborate on research to identify the genomic mechanisms responsible for clinical outcomes in hepatocellular carcinoma.

[134] Samsung Life Insurance currently holds a 7.4% stake in the South Korean banking company DGB Financial Group, making it the largest shareholder.

[137] Corning is an American company that is experienced in glass chemistry, ceramics science, and optical physics, as well as its manufacturing and engineering, to create goods that support industries and improve living standards.

[150] Samsung lost a chance to revive its failed bid to take over Dutch aircraft maker Fokker when other airplane manufacturers rejected its offer to form a consortium.

[152] In 1995, Samsung's textile department invested in FUBU, an American hip hop apparel company, after the founder placed an advertisement asking for funding in The New York Times.

[158] In December 2011, the board of Samsung Electronics approved a plan to buy Sony's entire stake in their 2004 joint liquid-crystal display (LCD) venture for 1.1 trillion won ($939 million).

[163] At this time, Samsung also acquired US air conditioner distributor Quietside LLC as part of its push to strengthen its "smart home" business.

[166] In March 2015, Samsung acquired the small U.S.-based manufacturer of LED displays, YESCO Electronics, which focuses on making digital billboards and message signs.

[169] Major clients include: The basic colour in the logo is blue, which Samsung has employed for years, supposedly symbolizing stability, reliability and corporate social responsibility.

[196] Samsung says that its investigation turned up evidence of Shinyang using underage workers and that it severed relations immediately per its "zero tolerance" policy for child labor violations.

[196] In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including Samsung, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang.

[204] Kim Yong-chul, the former head of the legal department at Samsung's Restructuring Office, and Catholic Priests Association for Justice uncovered Lee Kun-hee's slush fund on 29 October 2007.

He presented a list of 30 artworks that the Lee family purchased with some of the slush funds, which were to be found in Samsung's warehouse in south of Seoul, along with documents about bribes to prosecutors, judges and lawmakers, tax collectors with thousands of borrowed-named bank account.

[208] In July 2016, the investigative journal KCIJ-Newstapa released a video which appeared to show Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee paying a group of prostitutes for sex acts.

[217][218] In February 2017, de facto Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong was arrested for bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas and perjury.

In return for government approval for a merger of two Samsung affiliates, it was alleged that Lee paid ₩43 billion (US$37.59 million) to a close friend of incumbent President Park Geun-hye.

[222] He was released early after serving 10 months of his sentence in August 2021 as part of South Korea's yearly tradition of clemency on Liberation Day.