Lee Myung-hee

For the volleyball player, see Lee Meong-hee.

In this Korean name, the family name is Lee.

Lee Myung-hee (Korean: 이명희; born 5 September 1943^[1]) 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 with 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.^[1]

Lee Myung-hee
Lee Myung-Hee in 2025
Born	(1943-09-05) 5 September 1943 (age 82) Uiryeong, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Alma mater	Ewha Womans University
Occupation	Chairman of Shinsegae Group
Spouse	Chung Jae-eun
Children	2, including Chung Yong-jin
Parent	Lee Byung-chul
Korean name
Hangul	이명희
Hanja	李明熙
RR	I Myeonghui
MR	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 a Seoul National University and Columbia-educated engineer,^[2] Chung Jae-eun, who served as the president of Samsung Electronics and is currently the honorary chairman of Shinsegae Group.^[3] 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.^[1]