Hong Ra-hee, the honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, has gifted a portion of her Samsung Electronics shares to her son, Lee Jae-yong, the chairman of Samsung Electronics. This follows her previous gift of all her shares in Samsung C&T at the end of last year, further strengthening Lee's control over the group.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on October 13, Hong has signed a contract to gift 11,158,000 common shares of Samsung Electronics (0.17% stake) to Lee Jae-yong, with the transfer scheduled for November 12.
Once the gift is completed, Lee's stake in Samsung Electronics (including common and preferred shares) will increase from 1.58% to 1.75%.
In contrast, Hong's stake will decrease from 0.98% to 0.81%. Since this is a transfer of shares within the family, there will be no overall change in the ownership percentage of the Samsung Group's founding family, and the impact on the stock market is expected to be limited.
The calculation of gift tax will be based on the average stock price two months before and after the scheduled gift date, with final assessments expected in early next year.
Based on the closing price of 233,500 won on October 13, the value of the gifted shares is approximately 2.6 trillion won. When applying a controlling shareholder premium of 60%, the estimated gift tax could reach about 1.56 trillion won.
Industry insiders view this gift as a sign that the restructuring of the governance centered around Lee Jae-yong is nearing completion.
Previously, in December, Hong had also gifted her entire stake in Samsung C&T (about 1%) to Lee, bolstering his position as the major shareholder.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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