Samsung Family Donates 23,000 Works to S. Korean Museums Amid $11 Billion Tax Bill

by Andrew Russeth

Lee Jung-seop’s 1953 Bull, one of his most famous works, which is headed to the MMCA. COURTESY MMCA

The wait is over.

Today the family of Lee Kun-hee, the billionaire Samsung chieftain who died last October, began detailing his massive estate, the gargantuan tax they intend to pay on it, and their philanthropic plans, which include gifts of some 23,000 works from his art collection to South Korean museums and hundreds of millions of dollars to medical causes.

Samsung said in a press release on Wednesday morning that the family would pay more than 12 trillion Korean (about $10.8 billion) on the estate, which has been valued at around $20 billion. It is believed to be the most estate tax ever paid in the country, where the top rate can stretch above 50 percent. “It is our civic duty and responsibility to pay all taxes,” the Lee family said in a statement...READ MORE