The family of Samsung founder Lee Kun-hee’s son has sold 30 million shares of the company to raise some of the money needed to pay South Korea’s huge inheritance tax, The Wall Street Journal reports.

According to documents seen by WSJ reporters, the Lee family received $1.64 billion from the deal, and the inheritance tax they must pay is $10.78 billion, the highest figure in history, the BBC reported.

At the time of his death in 2020, Lee Kun Hee was the richest man in South Korea, with an estimated net worth of $21 billion. Born in 1942, Lee Kun-hee transformed Samsung from a local business into a global innovation and technology company.

In 2021, the billionaire’s relatives sold paintings by Picasso and Monet, as well as other valuable paintings, and by April 2022 another package of shares worth $ 1.8 billion for the same purpose.

To manage the astronomical inheritance tax, Lee’s heirs, including his wife Hong Ra Hee and his two daughters, Lee Bu Jin and Lee Seo Hyun, have worked out a repayment plan with banks for 5 years, with the first payments starting in April 2021.

This is allowed by South Korean law, which provides a grace period of up to 5 years for paying inheritance tax.

South Korea has an inheritance tax of 50% of the value of inherited assets, the second highest among developed countries after Japan (55%).