Samsung family members remain wealthiest female stockholders

Hong Ra-hee, right, the widow of late Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee, second from left, poses with their two daughters, Lee Boo-jin, left, and Lee Seo-hyun, second from right, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in 2010, about 10 years before the chairman's death in October 2020. Korea Times file

The mother and two sisters of Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong remain the three wealthiest female stockholders in Korea, even after they sold part of their shares in the global electronics giant to pay inheritance taxes, according to data, Tuesday.

The data released by Leaders Index, a Seoul-based corporate tracker, showed that Lee’s mother, Hong Ra-hee, and the two daughters — Lee Boo-jin and Lee Seo-hyun — had shares worth a combined 24.19 trillion won ($18.17 billion) in Samsung Electronics and other Samsung affiliates as of Jan. 13.

The affiliates included Samsung C&T, Samsung SDS and Samsung Life Insurance.

The aggregate value of the three Samsung owner family members’ shares was up 0.3 percent from a year earlier. This was figured out a day after they unloaded a combined 29.8 million shares equivalent to a 0.5 percent stake in Samsung Electronics.

The unloaded amount was worth 2.16 trillion won, which the three are believed to have used to secure cash for massive inheritance taxes incurred after the death of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee in October 2020.

Leaders Index assessed that a recovery in global chip demand helped Samsung Electronics to advance in the benchmark KOSPI and helped Hong and her daughters to remain high on the list of wealthiest female stocholders in Korea.

Hong retained her top position on the list, with her stocks valued at 7.39 trillion won, up 1.1 percent from last year.

Lee Boo-jin remained in second place as the value of her shares increased 2.5 percent year-on-year to 6.33 trillion won.

Lee Seo-hyun also remained as the third-richest female stockholder, as the value of her shares jumped 4.2 percent year-on-year to 5.36 trillion won.

Chey Kee-won, the younger sister of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, came in fourth after her 6.6 percent stake in SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group, slid 14.2 percent year-on-year to 787.6 billion won.

Kim Young-shik, widow of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo, ranked fifth, though the value of her stocks shrank 4.3 percent to 506 billion won.