| Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, left, poses by the hotel entrance in central Seoul, in this photo taken in May 2015. Korea Times file |
By Yi Whan-woo
After the death of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, investors are focused on whether or not Samsung Electronics will pursue a more simplified business structure, with the late Samsung chairman's scions taking respective roles within the conglomerate.
Samsung has remained tight-lipped about any restructuring plans, but a possible scenario is that Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will manage the group's tech affiliates, while his younger sister Lee Boo-jin, also Hotel Shilla CEO, could take a role in managing the conglomerate's financial units, according to industry sources, Monday.
Earlier, Samsung said it would look into the possibility of transforming itself into a holding company, adding it would have more to say on the issue at a "later date." The core reason is that a possible breakup would be beneficial to the owner family.
On Friday, Samsung heiress inherited one-third of her father's 20.76 percent stake in Samsung Life Insurance, making her the insurer's second-largest individual shareholder, after her brother who received half of the 20.76 percent.
Samsung Vice Chairman Lee is the largest shareholder of Samsung C&T, which in turn is the largest shareholder of Samsung Life Insurance, with a 19.3 stake in the conglomerate's web-like governance structure.
Lee Seo-hyun, the youngest of the late chairman's three children, and the chairwoman of Samsung Welfare Foundation, got one-sixth of her father's shares in Samsung Life Insurance, while their widowed mother, Hong Ra-hee received none.
Samsung said that the inheritance of Lee Kun-hee's shares was carried out "in a future-oriented perspective," for the heirs to manage the conglomerate in a stable and amicable manner.
Samsung Life Insurance is at the center of the conglomerate's organizational structure, as seen from the fact that the company is the largest shareholder of the group's crown jewel, Samsung Electronics.
This fact means that the more stakes in Samsung Life Insurance one has, the more they can solidify their control over the entire group.
It was predictable that Vice Chairman Lee would get the most Samsung Life Insurance shares belonging to his late father, so that he could tighten his grip over the country's largest conglomerate.
But Lee Boo-jin receiving one-third of the shares was unexpected, according to Samsung watchers.
They noted Lee Kun-hee's shares in three other main affiliates ― Samsung Electronics (4.18 percent), Samsung C&T (2.88 percent) and Samsung SDS (0.01 percent) ― had been divided up by the proportions suggested by the country's inheritance law: three-ninths to Hong and two-ninths to each of their three children.
"The calculation of Lee Kun-hee's stakes in Samsung Life Insurance inherited by their children was not customary with reference to the inheritance law," an analyst said on condition of anonymity. "And if you ask why, it is perhaps to help Lee Boo-jin play a role in managing Samsung Life Insurance."
The analyst expected Samsung Life Insurance "may be the beginning" for Lee Boo-jin to go beyond the hotel business and eventually take control over all of the financial affiliates.
Among them are: Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities and Samsung Asset Management, with Samsung Life Insurance being their major shareholder.
Another analyst voiced a similar view on condition of anonymity.
"It may be a possible scenario in the long term for Lee Jae-yong and Lee Boo-jin to separate Samsung's businesses, with the former taking over the affiliates in the IT and manufacturing sectors, and the latter taking over the financial affiliates," he said.
Industry sources assessed that Lee Boo-jin's management skills have been proven through leading Hotel Shilla, one of the country's top lodging and conference centers, as well one of its biggest duty free operators.
She was called the "little Lee Kun-hee" when her father was alive, reflecting how much she has proven her management skills upon joining Hotel Shilla in 2001.