On April 29, according to Bloomberg, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that as of March this year, the total wealth of Samsung’s Lee family had doubled to approximately US$45.5 billion (approximately 311.1 billion yuan) from approximately US$20.1 billion a year ago.

In 2020, Lee Kun-hee (Lee Kun-hee), the head of the Lee family behind Samsung Electronics, passed away. His family soon faced a double crisis: the first was the inheritance tax of billions of dollars. The following year, his son, Jay Y. Lee, was jailed for bribing former President Park Geun-hye to win support for her succession.

At the time, some observers speculated that the estate tax, one of the world's largest, could threaten the Lee family's control of the giant Samsung conglomerate.

More than five years later, however, AI-driven increases in semiconductor valuations have helped the family solidify its control and become richer than ever.

The Lee family is now Asia's third-richest family, up from 10th last year. The family's heirs are due to make their final estate tax payment this month, ending an installment that has lasted about five years. The total inheritance tax is as high as 12 trillion won (approximately US$8.1 billion). Samsung is the largest family-controlled chaebol group in South Korea. Together with SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group, it is also known as South Korea's three largest chaebols.

Lee Jae-yong, who once receded from public view when the controversy surrounding his sentencing drew widespread attention in South Korea, has now become active in public again. Last week, he appeared in a selfie with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi. In the past year, he traveled with the president to India, Vietnam, China, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

In October last year, photos of him drinking beer and eating fried chicken with another global technology tycoon, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, quickly became popular online, sparking heated discussions.

As of press time, a spokesperson for the Korean National Taxation Bureau declined to comment.