Li Rutting of Hee (Lee Kun-hee)

Li Rutting of Hee (Lee Kun-hee)

Education

Lee Gong Hee graduated from high school, and then one of the most prestigious universities in Japan - Waseda University - where he studied economics. He later studied at George Washington University in the United States, but did not receive a diploma.

Biography

1968-1987

Lee Gong-hee joined the Samsung Group in 1968 and assumed the chairmanship on December 1, 1987, just two weeks after the death of his father and Samsung founder Lee Byung-chol.

2014

In May 2014, the head of the Samsung Group, Lee Gong Hee, was hospitalized due to a heart attack.

2020: Death

Samsung Chairman Lee Gong Hee died on October 25, 2020 at the 79th year of his life in Seoul. For the past few years, due to health problems, Lee Gong-hee has remained the formal head of the company.

Chairman Lee was a true visionary who turned Samsung from a local business into a leading global innovator and industrial giant. His 1993 statement on "new governance" was the driving force behind the company's vision of providing the best technology for the development of global society.<...> His legacy will be eternal, "Samsung said in a statement.

Lee left a widow and three children. Lee Jae Yong's son has actually led Samsung for the past five years.

According to Yonhap, Lee Ghosn Hee owned 4.18% of the securities of the flagship company Samsung Electronics, as well as 0.08% of the group's preferred shares. In addition, he owned a 29.76% stake in Samsung Life Insurance, 2.88% of Samsung C & T and 0.01% of Samsung SDS.

The total value of assets remaining after the death of the head of Samsung reaches 18 trillion won (about $15.6 billion). Experts interviewed by the agency note that for shares alone, the heirs of the late billionaire will have to pay about 10 trillion won ($8.87 billion) in inheritance taxes.

At the same time, the family of the head of Samsung can pay taxes for several years: the legislation of South Korea provides for installments for a period of five years or more.^[1]

2021: Lee Gong-hee's family will pay more than 12 trillion Korean won inheritance taxes

At the end of April 2021, it became known that the family of the late former head of Samsung, Lee Gong Hee, will pay a record inheritance tax of more than 12 trillion Korean won (about $10.78 billion). He was South Korea's richest man - at the time of Lee's death, his fortune was estimated at more than 25 trillion won ($22.5 billion). This includes company shares, real estate and art.

Such an inheritance tax is one of the largest in the history of South Korea and around the world and "three to four times the total tax revenues of the Korean government in 2020," the statement of the Lee Gong-hee family said. In accordance with the law, the family plans to pay the full amount of inheritance tax within five years, starting in April 2021.

Former head of Samsung Lee Gong Hee

Lee Gong Hee's estate was valued at about $23.4 billion, Reuters reports citing local media. Lee's shares include 4.18% ordinary shares of Samsung Electronics and 0.08% preferred shares, 20.76% shares of Samsung Life Insurance, 2.88% shares of Samsung C & T and 0.01% shares of Samsung SDS.

To pay inheritance tax, Lee's family is likely to take advantage of share dividends, but she may also need bank loans. Relatives of Lee Gong-hee also said they would donate 1 trillion won to health care and other medical needs. A collection of antiques, paintings by Western artists and works by Korean artists of the late chairman of Samsung - a total of about 23,000 exhibits - will be donated to national organizations, they said.

The family did not disclose how relatives would share the shares of the late Lee Gong Hee.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the inheritance tax rate in South Korea is 50%, and it may be higher when transferring shares of the company.^[2]

Notes