The first half of the 20th century was brutal for Korea. Korea became independent in 1945 from Japan after a crushing defeat in World War ll.
However, Lee Byung-Chui was optimistic about Korea’s way ahead after independence. He started a small transportation company in 1938 called Samsung that used to export groceries. Using his smart tactics and strategies, he becomes a collaborationist as he managed Samsung to get loans that were not available to most Korean companies. However, when the Korean war broke out, it devastated the business and now South Korea needed immediate repair of its infrastructure.
The USA deployed a massive $3 billion into South Korea and Samsung was one of the most benefited companies from the funding. Samsung used these funds to expand from just a transportation company to a manufacturing giant. In 1953, it started making sugar and flour. Next, it got into electronics, making one of the popular divisions of electronics today, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
It would not have been possible without the visionary and strategist Lee in difficult times like war.