The Man Looking to Turn Samsung into a Silicon Valley Trendsetter

A Q&A with Samsung’s president and chief strategy officer, Young Sohn.

He has spent a long career leading several successful Silicon Valley semiconductor and storage companies after founding Intel’s PC chipset business and running its joint venture with Samsung in the 1980s. Samsung Electronics is a company at the top of its game, having become the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer in the last year. But as any business guru would be quick to note, now would be a dangerous time for the South Korean giant to be content. With Apple attempting to ban some U.S. imports of Samsung’s phones and tablets in response to patent feuds, the company is also keen to shed its image as a follower, rather than an innovator, in the field of consumer technology. Samsung is doubling down on technology investments in its competitor’s backyard, including two new R&D buildings in Silicon Valley that will house 2,000 staff and a recently announced startup accelerator.