AI Boom Sends Samsung DS Division Bonuses Toward 700 Million Won Pre-Tax

Amid the AI semiconductor boom, Samsung Electronics' DS (semiconductor) division has notified employees of the criteria and schedule for a new special management performance bonus, with forecasts that memory staff could receive up to 700 million won pre-tax depending on rank.

According to industry sources on the 10th, the bonus will be funded by a set percentage of the semiconductor business's operating profit this year and paid out on a differentiated basis according to individual performance, separate from the existing excess profit-sharing program (OPI, a bonus distributed from profits exceeding targets). Brokerages and the labor union estimate that an employee in the memory business unit earning around 80 million won a year could receive up to 750 million won pre-tax when combining the special bonus and OPI.

On the anonymous community app Blind, an employee in his early 30s at Samsung Electronics' memory business unit posted about the expected bonus amounts for a couple who both work at the company. The author claimed that when the couple's total bonus payout is added to the appreciation of an apartment purchased through an in-house loan and savings, the combined value is expected to reach "at least 3 billion won." If the bonuses are actually paid, he added, "I think I could quit the company within five years."

The special bonus is set to be approved at the regular shareholders' meeting in March next year and executed between late March and early April. Taxes totaling about 49.5% — combining the top income tax rate of 45% and the local income tax of 4.5% — will be withheld first, with the remaining amount paid not in cash but in Samsung Electronics' own shares. Some shares can be sold immediately after distribution, but the remainder will be subject to mandatory holding periods of one and two years.