Samsung Family Pledge Massive Donation to Charity

Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong and his siblings are expected to lay out the details of their vast inheritance next week and make a massive charitable donation.

The three heirs and their mother came into Korea's biggest fortune last year on the death of their father Lee Kun-hee.

A source close to the Lee family said Tuesday, "The Samsung family plan to announce how they will pay their inheritance of Lee's stakes... as well as donations from the late chairman's art collection, which is a subject of much interest in the art world, and a sizable donation to charity."

The source added they will be ready to make the announcement on next Wednesday or Thursday.

The heirs will be taxed an estimated W11.04 trillion on stocks alone, while the total amount is expected to amount to W12-13 trillion including the art collection, real estate and cash (US$1=W1,113). They plan to pay one sixth of the inheritance tax by the end of this month from bank loans on their stockholdings or on credit and pay off the rest over the next five years.

Part of the art collection will be donated to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Korea. The heirs also plan to donate assets Lee senior admitted to in a slush fund investigation in 2008 and distribute some of his stocks in Samsung affiliates.

Charitable donations are tax-deductible.

Lee Kun-hee owned 4.18 percent in ordinary shares and 0.08 percent of preferred shares in Samsung Electronics, 20.76 percent in Samsung Life Insurance, 2.88 percent in Samsung C&T and 0.01 percent in Samsung SDS.

The family control the publicly traded conglomerate through a Byzantine system of cross-holdings via de-facto holding company Samsung C&T.