Source: Maeil Business Newspaper

What happened

According to Maeil Business Newspaper (MK), Samsung Electronics said Friday its board approved a plan to return 90 trillion to 110 trillion won to shareholders in 2026 — the largest shareholder return ever undertaken by a Korean company. The upper end is more than five times Samsung’s previous record of 20.3 trillion won in 2020.

A company official framed the move as sharing growth benefits with shareholders and sustaining a cycle between corporate growth and shareholder value. The plan sits inside Samsung’s existing 2024–2026 shareholder return policy, which targets returning 50% of free cash flow.

The breakdown

MK numbers for the three-year arc:

• Already paid: 9.8 trillion won in regular dividends in each of 2024 and 2025 (19.6 trillion combined). Last year also brought 1.3 trillion in special dividends and 8.4 trillion in share buybacks that were canceled.
• Three-year envelope: Including this year’s planned returns, Samsung expects to return 120 trillion to 140 trillion won over the full 2024–2026 window.
• 2026 cash slice: About 30 trillion won in cash dividends this year, including the regular third-quarter dividend. Exact size and structure are due at a late October board meeting.
• Remainder calendar: The rest of this year’s return is slated for a January board meeting after full-year results — with a mix of additional cash dividends and/or buybacks followed by cancellations under consideration.
• Separate track: The board also approved buying about 15 trillion won in treasury shares for employee compensation. MK notes that program is separate from the shareholder return plan, though Samsung said those purchases should also support shareholder value.

This brief is market briefing, not personalized investment advice. Do not read the return range as a buy, sell, or hold instruction.

Why it matters outside Korea

For overseas holders of Samsung ordinary or preferred shares — and for anyone whose Korea equity exposure is dominated by the name — the operational story is calendar and mix, not the headline trillion-won figure alone. Late October locks the near-term cash dividend structure; January decides how the remainder splits between more cash and buyback-and-cancel. That is the watch list for tax timing, ADR/local settlement assumptions, and how “50% of free cash flow” shows up as cash versus share reduction.

Corporate treasurers and Korea desk PMs should also separate the employee treasury purchase from the shareholder return band so the 90–110 trillion range is not double-counted with the 15 trillion compensation buy.

What travelers and expats should watch

• If you hold Samsung equity, mark late October (Q3 dividend detail) and January (remainder: dividends and/or buybacks+cancel) on the board calendar — those dates decide form, not just size.
• Do not treat the Friday approval as a finished payout schedule. MK’s reporting leaves the exact dividend structure and the non-cash remainder open until those meetings.
• Keep the employee compensation buyback on a separate mental ledger from the 90–110 trillion shareholder return so headlines do not inflate the investor package.
• Soft rule: treat English “record return” coverage as a policy briefing for Korea-touching portfolios — not a trade signal for retail accounts.

Context

Read this as the final-year execution of a published 50% free-cash-flow return policy, not as a one-off emergency dividend or a sudden change in chaebol capital allocation theater. The Korelay frame is: the record is the scale of year-three payout inside a known three-year rule; the overseas-useful layer is when cash versus buyback is decided. Wire-style “Samsung to return W110tr” blurbs without the October/January board split bury the part holders can actually act on.

Source

Maeil Business Newspaper: Samsung Electronics to return up to 110 trillion won to shareholders this year — English edition; paraphrased for briefing; read the original for full detail. Not investment advice.