Like many large South Korean conglomerates led by descendants of its founders, Samsung is a chaebol. Chaebol refers to a diverse group of South Korean conglomerates led by individuals or families. The heads of these large companies tend to be very wealthy. Among them, the Samsung family ranks 12th on the list of Asia's richest people.
The group is currently led by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is the grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul. The Samsung family is the only South Korean conglomerate to be named one of the top 20 richest families in Asia by Bloomberg.
According to the report, the top 20 richest families in Asia have a staggering $534 billion in total wealth. This excludes first-generation billionaires such as Alibaba, Jack Ma, and wealth controlled by a single heir. This list pays special attention to the wealth held by different branches of the family.
The report mentions that the Samsung family's assets reached $18.2 billion, ranking 12th on the list. That's down two places from last year's 10th place, when their assets were estimated at $18.5 billion. The Samsung family had previously ranked fifth in 2019 and 2020, when assets were estimated at $28.5 billion and $26.6 billion, respectively.
The decline is likely related to the nearly $11 billion in taxes paid by the family to inherit the estate of Lee Keon-hee, the father of Lee Jae-yong, the former president, the highest inheritance tax in South Korea's history.