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The Star
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Samsung heirs sell Seoul villa for US$16mil to help pay record inheritance tax bill
This residence in Seoul's Yongsan district was sold for 22.8 billion won by four heirs of the late Samsung chairman, including his widow and three children. - Yoo Sung-hyun/Herald Biz SEOUL: The heirs of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee have sold a luxury property in central Seoul for 22.8 billion won (US$16 million), in what appears to be part of a broader effort to pay South Korea's largest-ever inheritance tax bill. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's official property transaction database, the sale was finalised on June 13. Court registry records confirm that the villa, located in the Itaewon neighbourhood of Yongsan district, was jointly owned by Lee's widow Hong Ra-hee, honourary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, and their three children: Lee Jae-yong, executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T's fashion division. The buyer is believed to be a private-sector entrepreneur. As of now, the property title has not been formally transferred. The residence sits on 1,073sq m of land and spans about 497sq m in total floor area across three levels. The late Lee purchased the home in 2010 for approximately 8.28 billion won. The recent sale price marks a 175 per cent increase, averaging roughly 70 million won per pyeong, a traditional Korean land measure equivalent to 3.3sq m. It is located near a cluster of high-end homes informally known as the 'Samsung family town.' Following Lee Kun-hee's death in October 2020, the property was divided among the four family members in May 2021. The widow Hong received a one-third stake, while each of the three children received two-ninths. Although the home was not publicly listed, reports suggest the family began exploring a sale earlier this year. The timing aligns with a larger financial strategy the Samsung heirs have pursued since inheriting an estimated 26 trillion won in assets from Lee's estate. Under South Korean tax law, roughly 12 trillion won in inheritance taxes is owed, an unprecedented amount. The family is paying it over six years through a government-approved installment plan. Since 2021, the heirs have taken various steps to meet their tax obligations. These include selling shares in Samsung affiliates and securing loans using stock as collateral. The recent property sale is one of the more tangible examples of asset liquidation tied to this effort. This is not the first Itaewon villa the family has sold. In 2023, they finalised the sale of another nearby property also inherited from Lee. That home had been quietly listed in 2021 for 21 billion won. It changed hands the following year, though the final sale price was not disclosed. Like the latest sale, the property had been originally purchased by Lee in 2010. South Korea's inheritance tax, among the highest in the OECD, has a top rate of 50 per cent, which increases to 60 per cent when company shares are transferred with management control rights. It is a structure that disproportionately impacts family-run conglomerates like Samsung. The tax was first introduced under President Park Chung Hee in the 1960s as part of broader efforts to institutionalise state control over wealth and curb excessive accumulation during the country's rapid industrialisation. - The Korea Herald/ANN
Straits Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Samsung heirs sell Seoul villa for $21m to help pay record inheritance tax bill
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The sale of a luxury property in central Seoul for 22.8 billion won was finalised on June 13. SEOUL - The heirs of the late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee have sold a luxury property in central Seoul for 22.8 billion won (S$21 million), in what appears to be part of a broader effort to pay South Korea's largest-ever inheritance tax bill. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's official property transaction database, the sale was finalised on June 13. Court registry records confirm that the villa, located in the Itaewon neighborhood of Yongsan district, was jointly owned by Mr Lee's widow Ms Hong Ra-hee, honourary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, and their three children: Mr Lee Jae-yong, executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, Mr Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Ms Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T's fashion division. The buyer is believed to be a private-sector entrepreneur. As of now, the property title has not been formally transferred. The residence sits on 1,073 square meters of land and spans about 497 square meters in total floor area across three levels. The late Mr Lee purchased the home in 2010 for approximately 8.28 billion won. The recent sale price marks a 175 per cent increase, averaging roughly 70 million won per pyeong, a traditional Korean land measure equivalent to 3.3 square meters. It is located near a cluster of high-end homes informally known as the 'Samsung family town.' Following Mr Lee Kun-hee's death in October 2020, the property was divided among the four family members in May 2021. The widow Ms Hong received a one-third stake, while each of the three children received two-ninths. Although the home was not publicly listed, reports suggest the family began exploring a sale earlier this year. The timing aligns with a larger financial strategy the Samsung heirs have pursued since inheriting an estimated 26 trillion won in assets from Mr Lee's estate. Under South Korean tax law, roughly 12 trillion won in inheritance taxes is owed, an unprecedented amount. The family is paying it over six years through a government-approved installment plan. Since 2021, the heirs have taken various steps to meet their tax obligations. These include selling shares in Samsung affiliates and securing loans using stock as collateral. The recent property sale is one of the more tangible examples of asset liquidation tied to this effort. This is not the first Itaewon villa the family has sold. In 2023, they finalised the sale of another nearby property also inherited from Mr Lee. That home had been quietly listed in 2021 for 21 billion won. It changed hands the following year, though the final sale price was not disclosed. Like the latest sale, the property had been originally purchased by Mr Lee in 2010. South Korea's inheritance tax, among the highest in the OECD, has a top rate of 50 per cent, which increases to 60 per cent when company shares are transferred with management control rights. It is a structure that disproportionately impacts family-run conglomerates like Samsung. The tax was first introduced under President Park Chung Hee in the 1960s as part of broader efforts to institutionalise state control over wealth and curb excessive accumulation during the country's rapid industrialisation. THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Qatar Tribune
08-07-2025
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Samsung flags sharp fall in Q2 profits on United States chip woes
Agencies Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it anticipated a drop of over 50% in its second-quarter operating profits, citing U.S. export restrictions on advanced AI chips to China as the main reason. The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The tech giant said in a regulatory filing that its April-June operating profits were expected to drop to 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion) – down 56% from a year earlier and 31% from the previous quarter. The figure was 23.4% lower than the average estimate, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, which cited its own financial data firm. Sales were estimated at 74 trillion won, down 0.1% from a year earlier and 6.5% from the previous quarter. The company did not disclose its net income or the detailed earnings of its business divisions. In a separate release, the company explained why the results 'fell short of market expectations.' The company's key semiconductors division 'recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline in profit due to inventory value adjustments and the impact of U.S. restrictions on advanced AI chips for China,' it said. Washington has expanded efforts to prevent Beijing from getting state-of-the-art chips over concerns that they could be used to advance the country's military systems and other tech capabilities. The restrictions mean the company's high-tech factories were running well below capacity. However, Samsung projected that in the second half of the year it would trim operating losses 'as utilization improves due to a gradual recovery in demand.' Shares in Samsung were down around 0.8% in Seoul on Tuesday. The sharp profit and revenue drop is attributed 'primarily to the weak foundry business, while the performance of the memory business stayed relatively stable,' Tom Hsu, an analyst at TrendForce, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The outlook for the next quarter is more optimistic, with 'memory chip prices and shipments to keep rising, thanks to strong demand,' especially from data centers, added Hsu, including for AI. Performance from the company's HBM chips – used for advanced AI computing – 'likely fell short of expectations,' said Chae Min-sook, an analyst at Korea Investment and Securities.
Kuwait Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Kuwait Times
Samsung expects steep drop in profits on US chip woes
SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it expected its second quarter operating profits to fall by more than half, blaming US export controls on advanced AI chips to China. The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The tech giant said in a regulatory filing that its April-June operating profits were expected to drop to 4.6 trillion won ($3.3 billion) - down 56 percent from a year earlier and 31 percent from the previous quarter. The figure was 23.4 percent lower than the average estimate, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, which cited its own financial data firm. Sales were estimated at 74 trillion won, down 0.1 percent from a year earlier and 6.5 percent from the previous quarter. The company did not disclose its net income or the detailed earnings of its business divisions. In a separate release, the company explained why the results 'fell short of market expectations'. The company's key semiconductors division 'recorded a quarter-on-quarter decline in profit due to inventory value adjustments and the impact of US restrictions on advanced AI chips for China', it said. Washington has expanded efforts to prevent Beijing getting state-of-the-art chips over concerns that they could be used to advance the country's military systems and other tech capabilities. The restrictions mean the company's high-tech factories were running well below capacity. However, Samsung projected that in the second half of the year it would trim operating losses 'as utilization improves due to a gradual recovery in demand'. Shares in Samsung were down around 0.8 percent in Seoul on Tuesday. The sharp profit and revenue drop is attributed 'primarily to the weak foundry business, while the performance of the memory business stayed relatively stable', Tom Hsu, an analyst at TrendForce told AFP. The outlook for the next quarter is more optimistic, with 'memory chip prices and shipments to keep rising, thanks to strong demand', especially from data centres, added Hsu, including for AI. Performance from the company's HBM chips — used for advanced AI computing — 'likely fell short of expectations', said Chae Min-sook, an analyst at Korea Investment and Securities. In addition, a price drop for its NAND — used for data storage — 'likely widened losses slightly', Chae added. 'The sharp decline in the won-dollar exchange rate since June will likely weigh on both sales and operating profit (for the second quarter),' she added. Samsung is among the smartphone makers under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened South Korea with 25 percent tariffs in a letter to Seoul on Monday. Trump has repeatedly demanded that global companies — including Samsung and rival Apple — relocate production to the United States, which many experts warn is unrealistic, citing complex Asia-based supply chains. South Korea has already been hit by levies on steel and car exports, and said Tuesday it was maintaining 'close communication' with the Trump administration as it sought to head off additional measures. — AFP
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Samsung cancels Mexican auto parts plant
Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company, an electronic parts manufacturer belonging to South Korea's Samsung Group, has abandoned plans to build an automotive components plant in Mexico in response to the US's new foreign trade policies, according to local reports. The company produces a wide range of electronic components globally, including high-voltage automotive MLCCs for EV battery management systems. Samsung Electro-Mechanics had planned to build a plant in Mexico to produce automotive camera modules for US battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturer Tesla Inc and other automakers in the region. But these plans have now been shelved and a local subsidiary set up to manage the plant has been dissolved. The Samsung Electronics Company affiliate had already established a subsidiary in the Mexican city of Querétaro in 2023 to build and manage the plant, which was to benefit from zero import duties under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The aim was to produce the modules close to its major North American customers, including Tesla. The company has now cancelled the project, citing growing uncertainty over the future of the free trade deal. A source close to the company told reporters: 'The decision to dissolve the Mexican subsidiary effectively means Samsung Electro-Mechanics is no longer pursuing the factory.' US President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold trade negotiations with a significant number of major US trading partners this month, as he looks to reduce the country's trade deficit, which has increased significantly over the last few decades. This includes Mexico, which faces US import tariffs of 25%. "Samsung cancels Mexican auto parts plant" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
