https://DevOpsCloud.io -- Cloud Monk Losang Jinpa, Ph.D., MCSE/MCT, GitOps DevOps Engineer

Samsung Group (Korean: 삼성; Hanja: 三星; RR: samseong [samsʌŋ]; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous affiliated businesses, most of which operate under the Samsung brand, and is the largest chaebol (business conglomerate) in South Korea. As of 2024, Samsung has the world's fifth-highest brand value.

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. In the late 1960s, Samsung entered the electronics industry, followed by the construction and shipbuilding sectors in the mid-1970s—areas that would fuel its future growth. After Lee died in 1987, Samsung was divided into five business groups: Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, Hansol Group, and JoongAng Group.

Key affiliates of Samsung include Samsung Electronics, the world's largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker by 2017 revenues; Samsung Heavy Industries, the world's second-largest shipbuilder by 2010 revenues; and Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T Corporation, ranked 13th and 36th among global construction companies, respectively. Other significant subsidiaries are Samsung Life Insurance, the 14th-largest life insurance company globally, Samsung Everland, operator of Everland Resort (South Korea's oldest theme park), and Cheil Worldwide, the world's 15th-largest advertising agency by 2012 revenues.

A chaebol (UK: CHAY-bəl, CHAY-bol, US: CHAY-bohl, JEB-əl; Korean: 재벌 [tɕɛbʌɭ] , lit. 'rich family' or 'financial clique') is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Korean family-controlled corporate groups fall under this definition. The term first appeared in English text in 1972.

Chaebol have also played a significant role in South Korean politics. In 1988, a member of a chaebol family, Chung Mong-joon, president of Hyundai Heavy Industries, successfully ran for the National Assembly of South Korea. Other business leaders were also chosen to be members of the National Assembly through proportional representation. Hyundai has made efforts in the thawing of North Korean relations, despite some controversy. Many South Korean family-run chaebol have been criticised for low dividend payouts and other governance practices that favor controlling shareholders at the expense of ordinary investors.