[Reading Science] Lessons Samsung Can Learn from Son Jeong-ui and Jensen Huang

Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank. As a Korean-Japanese, he is known by the Korean name Son Jeong-ui in Korea. Recently, a scene of him affectionately called "Masa" being embraced by Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has become a hot topic. This incident occurred when CEO Huang mentioned that Son had sold shares of NVIDIA, which rapidly rose to become the number one company by market capitalization in the U.S. amid the AI boom.

The two men who stood on the same stage share something in common. Both have been running their companies as founders for decades. And both have experienced multiple failures. Yet, they repeatedly rose after each failure. CEO Huang defines his first products, NV1 and NV2, as complete failures. He recalls it as a crisis that nearly ruined the company. He emphasizes that the biggest enemy was within the organization itself.

During the 2008 global financial crisis, NVIDIA faced product recalls and massive losses due to GPU overheating issues. This was a serious situation threatening the company's existence, but Jensen Huang revived the company through innovative technology development and business restructuring. This was when CUDA emerged. Without CUDA, the NVIDIA ecosystem as it exists today would not have been possible. His leadership played a major role in growing NVIDIA into a leading company in the AI era. Despite its current brilliance, NVIDIA overcame such mistakes and internal problems to achieve its highest status in its 31 years since founding.

Chairman Son’s story is similar. Though overshadowed by success, he faced crises repeatedly. He suffered huge losses from the dot-com bubble collapse. However, he did not give up and sought new business models ? investment ventures and the high-speed internet business that became the foundation of today’s SoftBank. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he endured massive deficits caused by the downfall of heavily invested companies like WeWork and Uber. To resolve the crisis, he even considered selling ARM, which has emerged as a core player in the semiconductor field alongside NVIDIA in the AI era. But now, Chairman Son has escaped the crisis and is showing strong ambition to lead Japan’s AI transformation.

While the two were having their dialogue, Samsung Electronics’ stock price repeatedly fell. Eventually, Samsung’s stock price dropped to the 40,000 won range at one point. Where has the status of Samsung Electronics, which once led the global market, gone? We must face the reality that if we cannot keep pace with the accelerating speed of technological innovation, we will inevitably be left behind.

Behind the success of Jensen Huang and Son Jeong-ui lies constant change and challenge. They looked ahead to the future and continued bold investments even amid crises. Failure was not a setback for them but a stepping stone for new leaps. Their attitude offers significant lessons for Samsung Electronics today. It is time to seek new changes and take on challenges rather than rest on past glories.

The advent of the AI era is both a crisis and an opportunity. The passion and vision shown by Son Jeong-ui and Jensen Huang point the way forward for us. To avoid falling behind in global competition, bold change and challenge are essential. And the core is leadership. If leaders have the courage and foresight to turn crises into opportunities, Samsung Electronics can shine again on the world stage. Now is the time to recognize the need for change and take action.

The success of companies based on science and technology ultimately depends on people. Son Jeong-ui has devoted great effort to nurturing talent and innovating organizational culture. Jensen Huang also led innovation by creating a horizontal organizational culture centered on creative talent. Crisis is opportunity. The same formula must apply to Samsung as well. At the center is science and technology “first.”