When Lee Kun-hee, the patriarch behind Samsung Electronics died in 2020, his dynasty soon dealt with a crisis on two fronts: first, a multi-billion-dollar inheritance tax. The following year, his son Jay Y. Lee was jailed after being convicted of bribing South Korea¡¯s former President Park Geun-hye to win support for his succession.
At the time, some observers speculated that the sheer scale of one of the world¡¯s largest death levies could threaten the family¡¯s control over the conglomerate.
Instead, more than five years later, an AI-driven upswing in semiconductor valuations has helped the family cement its grip and grow richer than ever. The Lees¡¯ combined wealth climbed to about $45.5 billion as of March, from roughly $20.1 billion a year earlier, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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