When Lee Kun-hee, the patriarch behind Samsung Electronics Co. died in 2020, his dynasty soon dealt with a crisis on two fronts: first, a multi-billion-dollar inheritance tax. The following year, his son Jay Y. Lee was jailed after being convicted of bribing South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye to win support for his succession.
At the time, some observers speculated that the sheer scale of one of the world's largest death levies could threaten the family's control over the conglomerate.
Instead, more than five years later, an AI-driven upswing in semiconductor valuations has helped the family cement its grip and grow richer than ever. The Lees' combined wealth climbed to about $45.5 billion as of March, from roughly $20.1 billion a year earlier, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
They are now Asia's third-richest family, up from 10th last year. The heirs are set to complete the final installment of their 12 trillion won ($8.1 billion) inheritance tax due this month, wrapping up about five years of payments. A spokesperson for the National Tax Service declined to comment. Samsung is the biggest of South Korea's family-run conglomerates known as chaebol, alongside SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group.
Jay Y. Lee, who once shunned the limelight as his sentencing drama roiled South Korea, is back. Last week, he appeared in a selfie with the nation's President Lee Jae Myung and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi. Over the past year, he joined presidential trips to India, Vietnam, China, the United Arab Emirates and the US.
In October, photos of him having beer and fried chicken with another of the world's richest tech barons, Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang, went viral.
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The family's financial comeback highlights a broader disconnect in South Korea's market rally. President Lee has made narrowing the "Korea Discount" and improving transparency among chaebol part of his election campaign. Expectations of reform to help minority investors have helped Seoul's stock market become the world's best performing over the past year. Still, critics say deeper changes are needed close the gap to global peers.
Samsung is seen as "behind the curve" versus other large local large groups when it comes to bringing value-up plans to investors, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a March 17 report.
"At least for the near future, I don't believe the controlling family, the Lee family, has any incentive," to do more about improving corporate governance, said Sangin Park, a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration.
"The stock price went up so much and the shareholders are so happy," Park said. In the long run, that means Korea may lose a good opportunity for substantial changes in corporate governance, according to the academic.
Samsung Electronics is unable to comment on matters related to personal wealth of family members, a company spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to questions. The company is committed to enhancing shareholder value based on mid-to-long-term return policies, the spokesperson added. Samsung also plans to invest over 110 trillion won in facilities, research and development this year to build on its position in the AI semiconductor era, according to the e-mail.
Corporate Reach
Samsung's economic influence has continued to grow alongside the powerful market rally. The combined revenue of seven key Samsung affiliates - including Samsung Electronics - was equivalent to 19.3% of South Korea's gross domestic product in 2025, up from 15.1% a decade earlier, according to Bloomberg calculations.
Samsung Electronics - which accounts for roughly a quarter of the nation's benchmark Kospi Index - surged 126% last year, its best annual performance in more than two decades.
Investment in AI infrastructure is driving an unprecedented semiconductor supercycle and demand for AI memory chips is expected to keep rising in 2026, Samsung Electronics co-Chief Executive Officer Jun Young-hyun said at last month's annual general meeting.
All of this has helped the Lee family to avoid selling even more shares to pay back inheritance taxes. Jay Y.'s personal wealth has risen sharply to $26.9 billion over the past year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He eclipsed finance tycoon Cho Jung-ho to become South Korea's richest person, a title he lost last year. In 2022, the Samsung heir secured a presidential pardon from the graft charges, allowing him to formally take the helm of the conglomerate that his grandfather created in 1938.
The Disconnect
At the the heart of President Lee's reform is a fundamental shift from controlling family interests to shareholder-centric governance. The parliament approved the final changes to the Commercial Act in February, which require companies to cancel treasury shares that have long been used by chaebol to entrench control.
Many chaebol are yet to deliver change, said Lee Chang Hwan, chief executive officer of activist investor Align Partners Capital Management in Seoul.
"What really needs to happen is that management and the board of these companies proactively work towards improving or optimizing for shareholder value," he added.
To be sure, Samsung units have been taking steps in that direction. In 2018, the company decided to separate the roles of the chairman of the board and CEO, and in 2020 it appointed an independent board director as chairman for the first time, according to a spokesperson for the company. And, the board now consists of a majority of independent directors.
In response to demands for greater transparency and to curb over-expansion, Samsung Group has streamlined its corporate structure, reducing its total number of affiliates to 63, less than some rivals, according to Korea's Fair Trade Commission.
The chips-to-smartphones maker handed a 1.3 trillion won special payout to shareholders last year on top of regular dividends. The firm also canceled shares worth more than 14 trillion won in April, according to a spokesperson.
Family Control
Within the Lee family, approaches have varied to paying back the death levy. Jay's sister Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, along with their mother Hong Ra-hee, have sold shares through block sales over recent years. Jay Y. Lee, by contrast, relied on loans secured by shares and other assets.
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Many controlling shareholders in Asia prefer to keep voting power over short-term liquidity, said Jung In Yun, chief executive officer at Fibonacci Asset Management Global.
"A key long-term question is whether the next generation will be able to maintain control of Samsung under Korea's high inheritance tax regime," Yun said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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