Did you know: Samsung builds ships and owns a theme park

Samsung is best known for its electronics. It’s the largest Android smartphone maker and the biggest TV manufacturer in the world. It’s also an established player in the market for household appliances, audio equipment, wearables, and more. However, that’s only a small part of the story behind the company.

Samsung is a massive conglomerate, or chaebol, accounting for an estimated 13% of South Korea’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Its business ventures span across various industries that have nothing to do with consumer technology, including construction, healthcare, and even entertainment.

With that in mind, I want to highlight five businesses Samsung  Group is in that you probably didn’t know about.

1. Building global skylines and infrastructure

Samsung C&T (Construction & Trading) is a major global construction company and is behind some of the world’s most recognizable structures.

It built the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at an impressive 2,717 feet (828 m). For reference, New York’s iconic Empire State Building is “only” 1,250 feet (381 m) tall. Samsung’s construction division also built the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and Taipei 101 in Taiwan, and of course, its own headquarters in Seoul.

In addition to massive buildings, Samsung C&T also constructs bridges, metro lines, power plants, and factories worldwide. In its home market, it remains one of the most prestigious property developers in the country through its luxury residential brand, Raemian.

2. Building ships and offshore platforms

Not only does the South Korean giant build some of the most iconic buildings in the world, but it also builds ships through its company called Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI). In fact, it’s one of the biggest shipbuilders in the world.

It builds ultra-large container ships, oil tankers, and highly complex Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers. It also makes various offshore structures, including foundations for wind farms and Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) Units, which are basically floating oil and gas processing plants.

So, not only does Samsung make some of your favorite electronics, but it also makes the cargo ships that ship them from Asia to the US and Europe. As an example, it built the Ever Ace for Evergreen, which was the world’s largest container ship by capacity when released back in 2021.

3. Running Korea’s massive financial empire

The financial arm of Samsung Group consists of a few different companies that collectively offer a massive range of insurance and money management services. These companies sell all sorts of insurance, including life, property, car, and even insurance for your pet.

Then there are the brokerage services offered by Samsung Securities, allowing its clients to buy and sell stocks and bonds on global markets. The group’s Asset Management company also offers money management services for those who prefer to see professionals deal with their money instead of managing it themselves.

The Samsung Group manages vast amounts of money in South Korea, estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars, primarily through national pension funds and other investments.

4. Running theme parks and golf clubs

Through Samsung C&T’s Resort Group, the South Korean giant runs the largest and most popular theme park in the country, called Everland. It also runs the massive water park called Caribbean Bay and prestigious Golf Clubs, said to be among the most exclusive in the country.

Additionally, the company is also in the business of high-end landscaping, utilizing the expertise gained from managing its own resorts and golf courses to design and manage public as well as private estates and parks.

This whole operation has a long history, with the company being established in 1963. It’s a big company with more than 1,300 employees.

5. Taking care of people’s health

When it comes to healthcare, Samsung is surprisingly one of the largest players in South Korea. It runs the Samsung Medical Center (SMC), which is one of the most prestigious and technologically advanced hospitals in the country.

But it doesn’t end with the hospital. There’s also Samsung Biologics, which is one of the leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) in the world. They work with large pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and manufacture complex, high-value biologic drugs used to treat cancers and autoimmune diseases. So it’s a contract manufacturer, just like Foxconn that makes Pixels and iPhones.

This dual approach shows Samsung’s commitment to an end-to-end healthcare ecosystem: not only does it provide specialized treatment in its own hospitals, but it also mass-produces advanced medications that treat patients globally.

These are just some of the more interesting businesses Samsung is involved in, but the list is a lot longer. It owns one of the biggest catering companies in South Korea (Samsung Welstory), a fashion retail company (Samsung C&T Fashion Group), a luxury hotel (Shilla Stay), and a massive marketing agency (Cheil Worldwide). I wonder what’s next for the giant?