Lee Myung-hee
Lee Myung-hee (Korean: 이명희; born 5 September 1943[2]) is a South Korean business magnate and the chairwoman of the Shinsegae Group. She is the youngest daughter of Lee Byung-chul, founder of the Samsung Group and the sister of the former late chairman Lee Kun-Hee. Lee became the company's chairwoman in 1997 following its separation from Samsung and is credited for growing it into the country's second-largest retailer. With an estimated net worth of $840 million she is one of the wealthiest people in South Korea and was ranked 20th on Forbes 2017 list of 50 Richest Koreans.[2]
Lee Myung-hee | |
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Lee in 2016 | |
Born | |
Nationality | South Korean |
Alma mater | Ewha Womans University |
Occupation | Chairman of Shinsegae Group |
Net worth | US$840 million (September 2020)[1] |
Spouse(s) | Chung Jae-eun |
Children | 2, including Chung Yong-jin |
Parent(s) | Lee Byung-chul (1909–1987) Park Du-eul (1907–1999) |
Korean name | |
Hangul | |
Hanja | |
Revised Romanization | Lee Myeonghui |
McCune–Reischauer | I Myŏnghŭi |
Biography
Lee was born in Uiryeong County to Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul and his first wife Park Du-eul as the youngest of eight children. She attended Ewha Girls' High School and then majored in art at Ewha Womans University before marrying. After ten years of being a homemaker she became a sales executive at Shinsegae Department Store in 1979 and then its Chairwoman in 1997 after the company was separated from Samsung.[2]
Financial scandals
During her time as chairwoman Lee has been fined on three occasions. The first was in 2006 for 350 billion won ($300 million) after she hid 800 billion wons worth of stock under different names. In 2012 the Fair Trade Commission fined Lee 4 billion won ($3.4 million) for charging different transaction fees. Then in 2015 she was fined 70 billion won for hiding 380,000 company shares worth 80 billion won ($68 million) under different names.[2][3]
References
- "Lee Myung-Hee", Forbes (profile), retrieved 28 September 2020
- "Lee Myung-hee". The Investor. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- Bae, Ji-sook (10 November 2015). "Shinsegae chairwoman caught with borrowed-name stocks again". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 3 November 2017.