The wealth of Samsung's Lee family has increased to $45.5 billion due to the AI chip surge, as 30,000 employees call for a share of the profits and threaten to strike.

      TL;DRThe Lee family, which oversees Samsung, has seen its fortune increase from $22.7 billion to $45.5 billion within a year, rising from tenth to third place among Asia's wealthiest families. This increase is largely due to a 186% rise in Samsung Electronics' stock, propelled by demand for AI chips, with Q1 operating profits soaring to 57.2 trillion won (eight times more than the previous year) thanks to HBM4 memory production for Nvidia. Simultaneously, 30,000 Samsung employees have staged protests demanding a 15% share of profits and have threatened an 18-day strike.

      The Lee family from South Korea, which controls Samsung, has doubled its fortune in the past year. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, their wealth is now valued at $45.5 billion, rising from $22.7 billion a year ago, which has elevated them from tenth to third among Asia’s richest families. This change is not a result of innovation but rather a 186% increase in Samsung Electronics’ share price driven mainly by global demand for the high-bandwidth memory chips essential for AI data centers. In the first quarter, Samsung's operating profit hit 57.2 trillion won, approximately eight times the profit earned in the same quarter the previous year. While the Lee family did not create the AI sector, the industry's reliance on Samsung's products has resulted in $22.8 billion in new wealth for them in just one year.

      The company's financial revival hinges on one specific product category: high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the specialized DRAM chips essential for GPU modules used in training large AI models. Samsung has started mass production of HBM4, which is required by Nvidia’s next-generation B300 servers, ahead of its primary competitor, SK Hynix, after trailing in technology for years. This development is significant because HBM offers margins that traditional memory chips cannot compete with. In the first quarter, the semiconductor division was the main contributor to the profit increase, turning what had been a cyclical downturn into the most profitable quarter in the company's recent history. Nvidia’s B300 servers, which can exceed $1 million each, are being shipped to major AI programs and hyperscalers around the globe, with Samsung positioning itself as a key supplier of the necessary memory.

      However, the dependency on a single product line presents both an opportunity and a risk for Samsung. HBM4 represents a major advancement in memory architecture, transitioning from a stacked DRAM design to a logic-integrated base die that allows for enhanced bandwidth and reduced power use. Samsung's early mass production of HBM4 provided it with a competitive pricing edge reflected in the first-quarter results. Nonetheless, the supply chain for AI chips is known for its volatility. Factors such as Nvidia's product cycles, the pace of data center constructions by major firms like Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, and geopolitical restrictions affecting chip exports to China all influence how much HBM Samsung can sell and at what price. The stock’s 186% gain over the last year anticipates a continuing boom in AI infrastructure. If that growth plateaus, the same factors that increased the Lee family's wealth could just as easily diminish it.

      The rapid increase in the family's wealth comes at a critical time for their finances. The heirs of the late chairman Lee Kun-hee, who passed away in October 2020, have been grappling with the largest inheritance tax bill in South Korean history, approximately 12 trillion won (around $9 billion). The family agreed to pay this amount in six annual payments, with the final installment due in April 2026. This tax obligation was based on the estate's value at the time of Lee Kun-hee's death, when Samsung's share price was much lower than it is today. The family has made these payments via a combination of dividends, shares sales, and loans against their Samsung holdings. The timing of the stock increase has alleviated concerns that the inheritance tax could threaten their controlling stake, allowing them to maintain a stable cross-shareholding structure within the group. Consequently, their influence over the Samsung conglomerate remains secure.

      This influence is quite unique compared to other global tech firms. Samsung is not a startup led by its founders or a public company with widespread ownership; rather, it is a chaebol, a family-controlled industrial conglomerate, where the founding family maintains control through an intricate web of cross-shareholdings among numerous subsidiaries. Although the Lee family's direct equity stake in Samsung Electronics is relatively small—around 5% of outstanding shares—they exercise control through Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, and other entities that collectively possess sufficient voting power to steer the company’s direction. The AI-fueled surge in tech stock values has inflated the worth of every entity within this structure, significantly increasing the family's perceived wealth beyond what their actual holdings in Samsung Electronics might suggest.

      The increase in wealth has not gone unnoticed