Samsung Electronics Co. named Jay Y. Lee as acting chairman of South Korea’s largest company, completing a long-awaited promotion as a supply chain crisis and escalating geopolitical tensions weigh on one of the biggest technology companies.

The board of directors approved Lee, 54, the head of the $250 billion company, Samsung said in a statement. Lee was expected to take over after his father’s death in 2020, but his inauguration has been delayed by a bribery investigation and two terms in prison.

The decision came on the same day his company reported disappointing earnings and warned it did not expect demand for the technology to recover until the second half of 2023.

Lee must lead the company through one of the most turbulent periods since Samsung was founded by his grandfather Lee Byung-chul in 1938. Countries from the US to Europe are calling on Samsung to increase investment in its factories to ensure the supply of chips. Washington’s campaign to contain China’s chip-making ambitions is increasingly forcing allies such as South Korea, which is heavily dependent on the Chinese market for exports, to choose sides.

The emergence of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and supercomputers, forces technology giants to adapt and think strategically.

According to data from the Bloomberg agency, the new chairman owns 1.63% of the shares of Samsung Electronics and 18.13% of the shares of the de facto holding company of the Samsung group C&T Corp. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Lee’s fortune is about $5.9 billion.