Samsung boosts dividends as ruling family faces giant tax bill

Seoul: Samsung Electronics on Thursday announced plans for a huge one-off dividend payment for shareholders with its controlling family facing a multi-billion-dollar inheritance tax bill.

Chairman Lee Kun-hee, the richest man in South Korea, left his children a monumental fortune when he died in October, along with a tax tab reported to be more than $10 billion.

The group’s flagship subsidiary Samsung Electronics said it would give a “one-time special cash dividend” to shareholders on top of their regular payment — and more than four times higher — as part of its full-year results.