Samsung Electronics has announced plans to purchase 2.5 trillion won worth of its own shares as part of a long-term employee and executive compensation strategy. The move underlines the company’s growing emphasis on stock-based incentives linked to performance and value creation.
The share acquisition will be carried out through open-market purchases between 8 January and 7 April. Over this period, Samsung Electronics plans to buy around 18 million shares. The total value is calculated based on the stock’s closing price prior to the board’s resolution approving the plan, placing the transaction slightly above 2.5 trillion won.
This buyback is designed to support a performance-linked compensation framework introduced in October 2025. Under this structure, company shares will be used for employee rewards tied to long-term results. The scheme includes Performance Stock Units as well as other incentive components such as short- and long-term performance pay.
The PSU programme was first outlined after the company released preliminary third-quarter earnings last year. It is structured to reward employees based on improvements in Samsung Electronics’ share price over a three-year period. At the time of its announcement, the plan drew some scepticism, particularly when the company’s stock price was lower. Since then, shares have continued to rise sharply, easing earlier concerns around the programme.
This is not the first time Samsung Electronics has turned to share buybacks to support its compensation strategy. Between late 2024 and September last year, the company repurchased shares worth a total of 10 trillion won. Most of that amount was used to cancel shares, while a smaller portion was reserved for employee rewards.
Samsung has previously indicated that shares set aside for compensation from earlier buybacks would be fully utilised by 2027. The latest purchase is intended to ensure sufficient stock is available to meet incentive commitments beyond 2028, reinforcing the company’s long-term approach to talent retention and performance alignment.
