Lee Myung-hee
| Lee Myung-hee | |
|---|---|
 Lee in 2016 | |
| Born |
September 5, 1943 Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Alma mater | Ewha Womans University |
| Occupation | Chairman of Shinsegae Group |
| Net worth | US$1.7 billion (October 2018)[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Chung Jae-eun |
| Children | 2 including Chung Yong-jin |
| Parent(s) |
Lee Byung-chul Park Du-eul |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 이명희 |
| Hanja | 李明熙 |
| Revised Romanization | Lee Myeonghui |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Myŏnghŭi |
Lee Myung-hee (Hangul: 이명희; born September 5, 1943) is a South Korean business magnate and the chairwoman of the Shinsegae Group. She is youngest daughter of Lee Byung-chul, founder of the Samsung Group and the sister of its current 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 $1.5 billion she is one of the wealthiest people in South Korea and was ranked 20th on Forbes 2017 list of 50 Richest Koreans.[2]
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 separate 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 by 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 3 November 2017
- 1 2 3 "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.