Lee Boo-jin (; born October 6, 1970) is a South Korean businesswoman who is the president and chief executive of one of Seoul's leading hotels and conference centers, Hotel Shilla, since 2010. Lee has been dubbed by the media as "Little Lee Kun-hee" and is regarded as a successful businesswoman for her work in Hotel Shilla. She is the younger sister of

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...

executive chairman

Lee Jae-yong Lee Jae-yong (; born June 23, 1968) is a South Korean business executive who has served as the executive chairman of Samsung Electronics since October 2022. He is the only son of Lee Kun-hee and Hong Ra-hee. As of December 2024, Lee has an e ...

, and the older sister of Lee Seo-hyun, chairman of Samsung Welfare Foundation. She is among the richest people in South Korea. In December 2024,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

estimated her net wealth as

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

2.3 billion and ranked her 13th richest in the country.

Early life and education

A native of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea, she is the daughter of

Lee Kun-hee Lee Kun-hee (; 9 January 194225 October 2020) was a South Korean businessman who served as the chairman of Samsung from 1987 to 2008 and from 2010 to his death in 2020. He is also credited with the transformation of Samsung to one of the world' ...

, the late billionaire chairman of

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

. She graduated from Daewon Foreign Language High School in Korea. She earned a bachelor's degree from

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

, majoring in children's studies.

Career

Lee began her career at Samsung Welfare Foundation in 1995. In 2001, she joined Hotel Shilla, a member company of the

Samsung Group Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous affiliated businesses, most of which operate unde ...

, specializing in travel retail and the hospitality business. She has been the president and CEO of Hotel Shilla since December 2010. Lee was formerly president of corporate strategy for Samsung Everland and an advisor for the trading department of Samsung C&T from December 2010 to December 2015, with the two companies merging to become

Samsung C&T Corporation Samsung Construction and Trading Corporation (; stylized as Samsung C&T) is a South Korean construction and engineering company. It was founded in 1938 as the first Samsung company and was initially involved in construction and overseas trading ...

in September 2015. Since 2015, she has been ranked on Forbes' lists of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women, with 82nd rank in 2023. She was an independent non-executive director of

CITIC Limited CITIC Limited () is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. Its shares are listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. 58% of its issued shares are owned by the Chinese state-own ...

from 2014 to 2019. As of February 2023, her net worth was estimated at US$3.3 billion.

Personal life

She lives in

, South Korea. In 1999, she married Im Woo-jae, known in the South Korean press as "Mr. Cinderella" because of his humble background, as an "employee of a security service affiliate of Samsung Group". They separated in 2012, and have one son together. In a court ruling in July 2017, Lee was ordered to pay her ex-husband Im Woo-jae $7.6 million, as part of their divorce settlement, with Lee receiving sole custody of their son. Im allegedly counter-sued and sought $1.1 billion as a division of assets, one of the largest amounts ever requested in an asset split trial in South Korea. Their divorce was settled in January 2020 with Lee ordered to pay Im $12.1 million in an asset split.

References

Living people Businesspeople from Seoul South Korean billionaires 1970 births Female billionaires Yonsei University alumni Women chief executives Lee family (South Korea) Samsung people {{SouthKorea-business-bio-stub