It is no secret that Samsung is one of South Korea's richest megacorporations. That's why members of the founding Lee family are among the country's richest people.
With the family patriarch passing away last year, the family is now looking at the highest inheritance tax bill ever in the history of South Korea. They're now selling their shares in various Samsung Group companies to pay the government.
More money, more problems
The Samsung family's late patriarch, Lee Kun-hee, reportedly left 26 trillion won ($21 billion) worth of assets to his family, which included 19 trillion($18 billion) won worth of stocks. His widow, Hong Ra-hee, is entitled to the most assets, followed by Jay Y. Lee, Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun. All four have divested varying assets to pay for the inheritance tax.
Hong Ra-hee has sold 19,941,860 shares of Samsung Electronics worth 1.43 trillion ($1 billion) won. While that might seem a lot, it only accounts for 0.33% of her 2.3% share in Samsung Electronics.
Similarly, Lee Seo-hyun has offloaded 3,459,940 shares in Samsung Life Insurance worth 247.3 billion won ($200 million) and 1,509,430 shares in Samsung SDS worth 242.2 billion won.
Lastly, the family added that it would pay the taxes over a five-year period. Other unnamed recipients of Lee Kun-hee's fortune are also expected to chip in somewhere down the line.
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