Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-Hee won a court ruling today against demands from his siblings to hand over billions of dollars in shares in various Samsung Group companies.
The court allowed Lee to retain all his shareholdings in the giant conglomerate, which members of his family had accused him of hiding from them following the death of Lee's father and Samsung founder Lee Byung-Chul.
If the court had ruled against Lee, 71, it would have forced a restructuring of the complex web of shareholdings across the Group's entities and weakened his hold on the giant conglomerate.
The main claimants were Lee's brother, Lee Maeng-Hee, his sister Lee Suk-Hee and the children of another brother.
They said that after their father's death in 1987, Lee had taken over shares worth around $4 billion in Samsung Electronics and Samsung Life Insurance that had been held under the names of other people including Samsung executives.