Lee Jae-yong, the eldest son of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, officially became the leader of the Samsung empire by inheriting 50 percent of his father’s stake in Samsung Life Insurance, the company’s regulatory filing showed Friday.

Lee received more than 20 million shares of the life insurer, owning a 10.44 percent stake in the affiliate, according to the filing.

Samsung C&T, the construction arm and de facto holding company of Samsung Group, remains the largest shareholder of the life insurer with 19.34 percent, while Lee is the largest shareholder as an individual.

Lee’s two sisters, Bu-jin and Seo-hyun, received one-third and one-sixth of their father’s shares, respectively.

The inheritance ratio for Samsung Life is seen as the owner family’s full backing of Lee Jae-yong as the new chief of the nation’s largest conglomerate.

Due to the cross-shareholding structure among four Samsung affiliates -- Samsung C&T controls Samsung Electronics through Samsung Life -- the inheritance of Samsung Life shares makes the junior Lee the actual leader of Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Life is the largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics with an 8.51 percent stake. Samsung C&T holds 5.01 percent in the electronics unit.

Lee and his two younger sisters also each inherited 1.2 million shares of Samsung C&T as stipulated by the legal inheritance ratio, while his mother Hong Ra-hee received 1.8 million shares of Samsung C&T. Hong has also become the largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics with a 2.3 percent stake.

With the exception of Samsung Life, the Lee siblings complied with the legal ratio set out for Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDS.

With the inherited shares, Lee Jae-yong’s stake in Samsung Electronics has increased to 1.63 percent. His stake in Samsung C&T now stands at 17.97 percent and he holds 9.2 percent in Samsung SDS.

"From a future-oriented perspective, the family reportedly has agreed to equally share (the inherited assets) in a manner that strengthens harmony within the family while helping stabilize management," said an industry official. 

"There will be no change in the current management."

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)