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Samsung family to sell 2.8 trillion won worth of stake in Samsung Electronics to pay inheritance taxes

Published: 19 Jan. 2026, 08:51 Updated: 19 Jan. 2026, 14:34

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, second from left, Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, center, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T, second from right, attend a ceremony at the Naval Academy in Changwon on Nov. 28, 2025. [YONHAP]

The family of late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee plans to sell stake in Samsung Electronics worth 2.85 trillion won ($1.92 billion), regulatory filings showed Sunday, in an apparent bid to pay inheritance taxes.

Hong Ra-hee, the widow of the late business tycoon and an honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, signed a deal on Jan. 9 to sell 15 million shares in Samsung Electronics through Shinhan Bank, according to regulatory filing.

The shares were valued at about 2.85 trillion won based on the company's closing price of 139,000 won on the day the deal was signed.

The block sale is widely seen as aimed at paying inheritance taxes totaling 12 trillion won following Lee's death in October 2020.

Since then, members of the controlling family have been paying their inheritance taxes in installments over a five-year span that started in April 2021. The final payment is due in April.

Yonhap