Samsung Family Completes Inheritance... Rises and Enters Domestic Wealth Rankings in US Forbes

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] With the inheritance of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee finalized, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has risen to 2nd place in the ranking of domestic billionaires surveyed by the U.S. economic magazine Forbes.

Forbes announced on the 1st (local time) that in its survey of the "Top 50 Richest People in Korea," Vice Chairman Lee's net worth was $12.4 billion (as of May 14), placing him in 2nd place. In last year's survey, Chairman Lee was ranked 1st and Vice Chairman Lee was 4th, but the rankings changed after the Samsung family's inheritance was completed in April. Vice Chairman Lee's assets were estimated at $8.3 billion when Forbes announced the global billionaire rankings in April, but his net worth increased by more than $4 billion after the inheritance was reflected.

The top spot in the domestic billionaire ranking went to Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion. The gap between him and Vice Chairman Lee is about $100 million, so the rankings could change depending on stock price fluctuations. In fact, Vice Chairman Lee topped the domestic billionaire ranking in Bloomberg's billionaire list last month and has maintained that position since. Chairman Seo ranks 3rd domestically in that list as of today, following Vice Chairman Lee and Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao.

In Forbes' survey, Lady Hong Ra-hee, President Lee Boo-jin of Hotel Shilla, and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun of the Samsung Welfare Foundation were also included within the top 50 domestic billionaires. Lady Hong ranked 6th domestically with a net worth of $7.1 billion, while President Lee Boo-jin and Chairwoman Lee Seo-hyun were ranked 9th and 11th with assets of $4.9 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively.