Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee departed the country Monday to attend the Sun Valley Conference in the United States, known as the "billionaires' summer camp." Expectations are rising that he could return with major foundry (contract chip manufacturing) orders from the gathering, where global Big Tech leaders convene to discuss cooperation.
Lee left around 5 p.m. through the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center (SGBAC) in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, bound for Seattle, en route to the conference held in Idaho, United States. Asked by reporters on his way into the airport whether he planned to meet Big Tech leaders, he replied, "Thank you for your hard work."
The Sun Valley Conference is a private event hosted every July since 1983 by U.S. investment bank Allen & Company. It is regarded as a venue for exchange where global Big Tech executives and media and investment industry heavyweights gather to discuss strategic cooperation and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Lee is known to have attended the conference every year from 2002, when he was a Samsung Electronics executive vice president, until 2016.
At this year's Sun Valley Conference, which runs from Monday through Friday, Lee is expected to meet with global Big Tech leaders including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
Some observers expect that results could emerge as he discusses memory and foundry cooperation with the Big Tech leaders. In particular, industry sources say the possibility of securing additional customers on this trip is not small, given that many of the large artificial intelligence (AI) chip contracts Samsung Electronics recently won are known to have been closed through Lee's global network.
"Expectations are growing that Chairman Lee's network could lead to major orders, as Samsung Electronics' comprehensive semiconductor capabilities—spanning memory, foundry and advanced packaging—align with global Big Tech's demand for developing their own AI chips," an industry official said.
Last August, Lee also stayed in Silicon Valley for more than 10 days, leading a string of major deals, including a foundry contract with Tesla and an agreement to supply image sensors (CIS) to Apple. More recently, he has been reviewing next-generation AI chip production with Anthropic and Meta.
