Samsung Family's Dividends Near 3 Trillion Won... Expected Use for Inheritance Tax Resources

On the 27th, reporters are waiting to cover the funeral hall at Seoul Samsung Hospital in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where the late Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Group, is lying in repose. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] It has been revealed that the Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's family received nearly 3 trillion won in dividends over the past 6 years and 5 months since he collapsed. It is expected that these dividends will be used as a source of the enormous inheritance tax that heirs, including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, must pay.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 27th, from 2014, when Chairman Lee suffered an acute myocardial infarction, until last year, the total dividends received by the family from listed companies amounted to 2.7716 trillion won. Annual dividends increased from 222.1 billion won in 2014 to 750.1 billion won in 2019, growing 3.4 times in five years.

By affiliate, Samsung Electronics accounted for a large portion of the dividends. In 2018 and 2019, out of the approximately 750 billion won in total dividends received by Chairman Lee's family, about 350 billion won came from Samsung Electronics. It is evaluated that the scale increased further as Samsung Electronics raised dividends through shareholder return policies starting in 2018.

Among the total dividends, Chairman Lee received 1.7988 trillion won, accounting for 64.9% of the total dividends received by the family. Chairman Lee holds 249,273,200 shares of Samsung Electronics (4.18% stake), 619,900 preferred shares of Samsung Electronics (0.08%), 9,701 shares of Samsung SDS (0.01%), 5,425,733 shares of Samsung C&T (2.86%), and 41,519,180 shares of Samsung Life Insurance (20.76%).

The valuation of Chairman Lee's holdings reached approximately 18.22 trillion won based on the closing price on the 23rd. The inheritance tax that heirs, including Vice Chairman Lee, must pay is estimated to be around 10.6 trillion won.

The securities industry expects dividends from Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T to expand further. Although larger dividend amounts increase the inheritance estate and thus inheritance tax, the industry estimates that Samsung Electronics' dividend increase also serves as a means to secure cash resources in preparation for the inheritance tax.

Kim Dong-yang, a research fellow at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Samsung may have been preparing for inheritance tax over time," adding, "Samsung Electronics significantly increased dividends starting in 2018, and this increase likely played a role in securing part of the inheritance tax resources."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.