Samsung family pays off record $8bn inheritance tax bill

The family behind the South Korean corporate giant Samsung has completed its payment of a 12 trillion won (£6bn; $8bn) inheritance tax bill, the largest such settlement in the country's history.

Chairman Lee Jae-yong and other members of the family, including his mother Hong Ra-hee and sisters Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun, paid the sum in six installments over the last five years.

The bill is tied to the estate left by the firm's late chairman Lee Kun-hee, who died in October 2020.

Samsung is South Korea's biggest chaebol, or family-owned business, with operations spanning electronics, heavy industry, construction and financial services.

Lee Kun-hee left a 26 trillion won fortune, including shares, property and art collections.

At the time, the family said that "paying taxes is a natural duty of citizens".

Samsung confirmed on Sunday that the final payment had been made, noting that the sum is equivalent to roughly one and a half times the country's total inheritance tax revenue for 2024.

At 50%, South Korea's inheritance tax rate is among the highest in the world.

The handling of the tax bill was watched closely by investors as it could have affected the Lee family's ability to retain control of Samsung.

Part of Lee Kun-hee's estate, including his collection of art by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali, was donated to the National Museum of Korea and other cultural organisations.

The Lee family has a combined net worth of more than $45bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Their wealth has more than doubled in the last year as demand for computer chips from the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry has helped drive up the stock market value of Samsung Electronics.

As well making computer chips, Samsung's technology operations include one of the world's largest smartphone makers and a major manufacturer of TVs.

Samsung Group was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul, the grandfather of Lee Jae-yong, who now leads the company.