Samsung heirs selling ₩2 trillion worth of stocks to finance payment for inheritance tax

Samsung lost its chairman Lee Kun Hee last year, and his family has inherited the company and other assets. He has left a significant amount to his family, but now they have to pay inheritance taxes for the assets.

To be able to settle these taxes, it was reported that the family of the late Samsung chairman is planning to sell stakes worth ₩2 trillion or around $1.6 billion. In the regulatory filings that were seen last weekend, the group affiliates decided to sell so they could pay the taxes.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Hong Ra Hee, the late chairman Lee Kun Hee’s wife, made the decision to put 19.9 million shares in Samsung Electronics up for sale. This is said to have an estimated value of about ₩1.4 trillion based on Friday’s, Oct. 8, closing price. The stakes to be sold account for .33% of the total issued by the company.

In the filing, it was indicated that the aim for the sale of the stocks is to “pay inheritance taxes.” Lee Kun Hee has been declared as the richest man in South Korea, and on his passing on Oct. 25, 2020, he left assets to his family that is worth more or less ₩26 trillion. The amount is said to include stocks worth ₩19 trillion.

The Samsung chairman’s assets were inherited by his wife, son Lee Jae Yong and two daughters - Lee Boo Jin and Lee Seohyun. It was said that once the process of the sale is completed, Hong Ra Hee’s current 2.3 percent shares in Samsung Electronics will be reduced to only 1.97 percent.

For Lee Boo Jin, she is said to have plans to sell shares in Samsung SDS worth ₩242.2 billion as well. She is said to be the head of Hotel Shilla, an affiliate of Samsung.

The youngest child in the family, Lee Seohyun, will be selling the largest amount of stakes. She is planning to vend ₩247.3 billion worth of Samsung Life Insurance shares and another ₩242.2 billion worth in Samsung SDS. She is currently the head of Samsung Welfare Foundation.

With the sales, the Samsung heirs will be selling a total of ₩2.1 trillion shares. In April of this year, the family revealed they would be paying around ₩12 trillion in inheritance tax in the course of five years. According to Reuters, the Lee family had to pay $10.78 billion in inheritance taxes for the estate left by their patriarch and Samsung chairman.