Samsung Won’t Cave Easily to Its Activist Investor

Samsung is under attack by the hedge fund Elliott Management. The New York firm wants Samsung to simplify its complicated ownership structure, arguing that doing so would attract more non-Korean investors and eliminate a discount that investors place on Samsung’s shares. Elliott is an efficient activist. It went after Samsung last summer, waging a proxy battle to prevent a merger of two Samsung entities. Elliott ran a tireless campaign against Samsung out of its Hong Kong office, but it ultimately lost. Now it is back, this time purporting to be supportive of the founding Lee family, which effectively controls Samsung despite its low-single-digit ownership stake.