That means Samsung would operate without a chairman for at least a few more months, a lack of clear leadership that could hurt many companies. But Samsung Electronics has respected executives who run the key operations, and Lee already holds the title of vice-chairman to make broader, strategic decisions as needed.

“I think Jay Y. Lee will be promoted to chairman early next year,” said Lee Sang-hun, analyst at HI Investment & Securities. “He might also wait until the bribery case is finalised.”

Samsung declined to comment. The company has not said who will take over the chairman position or when.

The timing of Lee’s formal ascension is sensitive given how public dissatisfaction with the country’s powerful conglomerates, or chaebol, has grown in past years. That backlash stems in part from the high-profile allegations of corruption against Lee, which triggered the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye.

Also complicating the succession is an enormous inheritance tax bill the Lee family will have to pay, possibly loosening their control over the conglomerate. The elder Lee had an estimated fortune of US$20.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and could owe about US$10 billion because of the country’s high rates.

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong charged with stock manipulation in 2015 merger deal

Most families choose to pay such taxes in cash rather than in stock to maintain control, said Chung Sun-sup, chief executive of Seoul-based corporate-analysis firm Chaebul.com. They can take five years to make the payments, he said.

There is little doubt the 52-year-old Lee will succeed his father eventually. The younger Lee, who is trilingual, studied at Japan’s Keio University and Harvard Business School after receiving an undergraduate degree from Seoul National University, the nation’s top school. He has brought a more global approach to Samsung’s management, forging relationships with key partners like the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

While Samsung Electronics is best known globally for its smartphones and appliances, it makes most of its money by supplying companies like Apple with components such as memory chips and panels.

Chang Sea-Jin, a professor at the National University of Singapore Business School, said the alternatives to simply promoting Lee may be worse. Naming an interim chairman from the Samsung executive ranks, for example, would complicate decision-making by adding an extra management layer, he said. There would be valuable clarity in Lee taking on his father’s role, he said.

“I think he should take the chairmanship now,” said Chang. “Whatever the circumstances, he has to make the decisions.”

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Samsung cannot afford to drift. The company faces renewed challenges from Apple and the rise of tough Chinese competitors in smartphones, along with chronic pricing difficulties in memory chips. The company is also embarking on expensive initiatives in 5G mobile technology and the semiconductor foundry industry. Samsung Electronics reports results on Thursday.

Chang, from the National University of Singapore, said Lee would not have to run individual business units because of the professional managers who steer the operations. That is a marked contrast to the early days of his father’s tenure, when the elder Lee got deeply involved in key divisions.

“He doesn’t have to be another Lee Kun-hee; they have much stronger professional management,” Chang said. “He should be a different kind of chairman than his father.”

Lee’s legal troubles could drag on for years. A retrial of bribery and corruption allegations will unfold this year, with a decision likely early next year. A newer case about alleged accounting wrongdoing will get under way again in January and is likely to take months.

Such prosecutions do not carry the same kind of stigma in South Korea as they do in many other countries. Lee Kun-hee was convicted twice – and pardoned twice. The chairman of SK Group was also jailed in 2013, then returned to his company in 2016 where he remains at the helm.

Chang joked that prison is almost like “graduate school” for the country’s business leaders.

“Eventually we should move away from this environment in South Korea and have the same standards as other countries,” he said.