Lee Jae-yong Net Worth

Lee Jae-yong has an estimated net worth of $27.3 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Lee Jae-yong profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $6.9 billion in 2019.

Lee Jae-yong is a South Korean business executive who leads Samsung Electronics. He joined Samsung in 1991 and moved through a series of management jobs as the family company prepared its next generation of leadership. His path picked up again in 2009, when he became chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics. In 2012, he became vice chairman of Samsung. In 2022, he was appointed executive chairman of Samsung Electronics.

His wealth is tied to Samsung, the technology group at the center of his business career. Forbes tracks him in the technology industry and connects his fortune to Samsung. He is also a main shareholder of Samsung's financial services subsidiary and owns 11 percent of Samsung SDS. Beyond the boardroom, he studied at Harvard Business School but did not graduate after being called back to Seoul, and he attended Steve Jobs' private memorial service at Stanford University in 2011.

How Lee Jae-yong built his fortune

Lee Jae-yong's money comes from Samsung, the conglomerate his family controls, and especially from Samsung Electronics. He joined the company in 1991 and later held senior roles including vice president of strategic planning and chief customer officer. His standing rose again in 2009, when he became chief operating officer of Samsung Electronics. By 2012, he was vice chairman, and in 2022 he took the top operating role as executive chairman.

His wealth is also linked to stakes inside the wider Samsung group. He is described as one of the main shareholders of Samsung's financial services subsidiary, and he owns 11 percent of Samsung SDS. Forbes places him in technology, with Samsung as the source behind his fortune. Another major money issue around the family has been inheritance taxes. Lee and his family are paying 12 trillion won, about $8.5 billion, after the 2020 death of Lee Kun-hee.

What Forbes says about his net worth

Forbes has shown big swings in Lee Jae-yong's wealth over time. It put him at $6.9 billion in 2019, then $5 billion in 2020. The estimate climbed to $8.3 billion in 2021 and $9.1 billion in 2022. After that, Forbes estimated $7.9 billion in 2023, then $11.5 billion in 2024. Those moves show how sharply billionaire rankings can change around a major technology fortune tied to Samsung.

The latest jump is even larger. Forbes estimated Lee Jae-yong at $8.2 billion on the 2025 World's Billionaires List, then $27 billion on the 2026 list. Forbes' real-time tracker put him at $27.3 billion in October 2026, which is the current figure we track. Alongside those estimates, Forbes notes that Samsung remains the core driver of his wealth, while the family is still handling the large inheritance tax bill tied to 2020.