Hong Ra-hee, the spouse of the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, boosted her fortune to greater than $7 billion after receiving billions of {dollars} in shares within the much-awaited switch of her husband’s property.
Hong, 75, inherited about 83 million shares in Samsung Electronics Co, making her the most important particular person shareholder within the tech big with a 2.3% stake, based on a submitting final week. Hong is the richest girl in South Korea with a internet price of $7.4 billion as of Monday’s stock-market shut, based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
It’s one other consequence of the huge passing of wealth after Lee’s demise, which noticed his son Jay Y cement management over the group after his holdings rose considerably in key associates. The late Lee’s solely son is price $12.6 billion, based on the index, whereas his sisters Boo-jin and Seo-hyun noticed their wealth swell to $5 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively.
“It’s a win-win situation for the family members,” stated Park Ju-gun, head of Seoul-based analysis agency Leaders Index. “It has ensured more stable control for Jay Y Lee, while other family members get more of a voice with their increased stakes.”
A Samsung Electronics spokeswoman declined to touch upon the household’s internet price.
The drama over succession at South Korea’s largest firm has roiled the nation for the reason that late Lee, the patriarch and longtime head of Samsung Electronics, suffered a coronary heart assault in 2014. Jay Y Lee has been accused in two completely different lawsuits of unlawful habits to make sure management over the conglomerate and is at the moment serving a jail sentence after a conviction for bribery within the first case.
Hong obtained the most important slice of the late Lee’s stake in Samsung Electronics because it was divided in a 3:2:2:2 ratio between her and her three youngsters. Hong bought about 33% of the shareholding, whereas her youngsters every obtained about 22%, based on the legally prescribed ratio.
Stock holdings within the conglomerate’s different key associates, its de facto holding firm Samsung C&T Corp and Samsung SDS Co, have been transferred based on the identical ratio.
But Jay Y was in a position to tighten his grip as he obtained half his father’s shares in Samsung Life Insurance Co, elevating his stake to greater than 10% from 0.06%. Samsung Life owns 8.5% of Samsung Electronics.
Last week, the household introduced its plan to pay one of many largest inheritance-tax payments at greater than 12 trillion received ($10.7 billion), in addition to its intention to donate 1 trillion received for medical amenities and about 23,000 artistic endeavors, together with items by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.
Hong led Samsung’s Leeum museum, which homes works corresponding to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Untitled (Black Figure)” and Gerhard Richter’s “Two Candles.” She resigned as director in 2017, and hasn’t taken any administration roles at Samsung corporations.
“It’s an extraordinary concentration of wealth,” Park stated. “This single family’s fortune creates inequality even among conglomerates.”