Lee Jay-hyun (; born March 19, 1960) is a South Korean businessman. He is the chairman of the

CJ Group CJ Group () is a South Korean conglomerate holding company and one of the largest Chaebol headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous businesses in various industries of food and food service, pharmaceutics and biotechnology, enter ...

Biography

Lee was born in 1960 as the eldest grandson of the late Samsung founder

Lee Byung-chul Lee Byung-chul (Korean: 이병철 12 February 1910 – 19 November 1987) was a South Korean businessman. He was the founder of the Samsung Group, which is South Korea's largest chaebol, and he is considered one of South Korea's most success ...

. His father, Lee Maeng-hee, was the eldest son of Lee Byung-chul who was pushed out of competition in a power struggle with his younger brother and late Samsung Chairman

Lee Kun-hee Lee Kun-hee (, ; 9 January 194225 October 2020) was a South Korean business magnate who served as the chairman of Samsung Group from 1987 to 2008 and from 2010 to 2020, and is credited with the transformation of Samsung to one of the world's la ...

. Lee went to

Kyungbock High School Kyungbock High School () is one of the oldest modern secondary school in South Korea. It is located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, near Gyeongbok Palace, after which it is named. It was established on April 18, 1921. The school's original name was the No. 2 ...

and received his bachelor's degree from

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

. He started his career at

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

in 1983, and joined the family business at CheilJedang in 1985 at the request of his grandfather. He briefly held positions at

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

before taking over the helm of CJ Group in the late 1990s after it was spun off from

Samsung Group The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

. He is credited for turning the company into the South Korea's 13th-largest conglomerate. In 2014, Lee was sentenced to jail for four years and a fine of 26 billion won for tax evasion and embezzlement. He was pardoned by

South Korean President The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (often abbreviated to POTROK or POSK; ), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Korea. The president leads the State Council, and is ...

Park Geun-hye Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges. Park was the fi ...

in 2016. As of 2021, his net worth stands at US$1.34 billion, making him the country's 37th richest person.

Personal life

Lee married Kim Heui-jae in 1984 and has one son, Lee Sun-ho, and one daughter, Lee Kyeong-hoo, both of whom graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He endowed the Lee Family Scholarship at Columbia College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jay-hyun 1960 births Living people South Korean businesspeople South Korean billionaires CJ Group Kyungbock High School alumni Korea University alumni Citigroup employees Samsung people Lee family (South Korea) 20th-century South Korean businesspeople 21st-century South Korean businesspeople