Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong moved to strengthen sports diplomacy and his global network on the ground at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, which opened on the 6th (local time), engaging with heads of state and top-level dignitaries from various countries as well as global entrepreneurs.
To mark the opening of the Olympics, Chair Lee attended the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gala dinner held on the 5th as the representative of Samsung Electronics, the only IOC The Olympic Partner (TOP) among Korea's corporations. The event drew not only IOC Chairperson Kirsty Coventry and Italian President Sergio Mattarella, but also U.S. Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok, among other leaders from around the world.
Global entrepreneurs included TCL Chair Li Dongsheng, Allianz Chair Oliver Bäte, Omega CEO Raynald Aeschlimann, Anheuser-Busch InBev Chair Michel Doukeris, Mengniu Chair Gao Fei, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Procter & Gamble CEO Shailesh Jejurikar, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) CEO Joe Ucuzoglu, and Coca-Cola Chair James Quincey.
A business community official said, "The IOC gala dinner is more than a social gathering; it is a venue for behind-the-scenes diplomacy where global affairs and business issues are discussed," adding, "Chair Lee Jae-yong's attendance will be a strong boost to Samsung Electronics' global stature as well as to Korea's sports diplomacy capabilities."
This is Lee's first visit to the Olympics in two years since visiting Paris during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. At the time, invited by French President Emmanuel Macron, Chair Lee also attended a luncheon for global business leaders at the Élysée Palace in Paris, meeting with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, and LVMH Chair Bernard Arnault, among other global business figures, as he worked to expand a global network to prepare for the future.
Samsung is set to continue its sponsorship for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics in the United States. In 2018, Chair Lee met with IOC Chairperson Thomas Bach and extended the Olympic sponsorship agreement, which had been set to expire in 2020, through 2028.
Samsung has consistently supported the Olympics across generations, starting with the late former Chair Lee Kun-hee. In 1996, the former chair directed a boost to the company's global image, saying, "Brand value is the source of corporate competitiveness." He also served as an IOC Commissioner from 1996 to 2017, playing a major role in Korea's sports diplomacy. In particular, the former chair made a significant contribution to Pyeongchang being selected as the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Since 1997 and through this year, for 30 years, Samsung has steadily supported international sports as a TOP (The Olympic Partner) sponsor of the Olympics and contributed to Korea's sports diplomacy. Samsung's ties with the Olympics began with a local sponsorship agreement for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Subsequently, Samsung Electronics, in line with former Chair Lee Kun-hee's policy of strengthening brand marketing, signed a top-tier TOP sponsorship agreement with the IOC in 1997. The IOC selects one TOP corporations in each sector and grants exclusive marketing rights, and Samsung Electronics is the only company in Korea included in the IOC TOP. According to Interbrand, Samsung Electronics' brand value first entered the top 100 in 2000 at about $5.2 billion (43rd) and has steadily risen, surpassing $90.5 billion (about 129 trillion won) in 2025 and maintaining a global "top 5" position for six consecutive years.
A Samsung official said, "Samsung's continued Olympic sponsorship aims to carry on and develop the will of former Chair Lee Kun-hee, who said that, as Korea's representative corporations, we must have a 'sense of duty.'"