KOREA WHO

Lee Jae-hyun is the chairman of CJ Group.

He is preparing a management succession to his eldest son Lee Sun-ho, head of the Food Growth Promotion Office at CJ CheilJedang, and his eldest daughter Lee Kyung-hoo, head of the Brand Strategy Office at CJ ENM.

He was born on March 19, 1960, in Seoul as the second of three children, with one daughter and two sons, to the late Lee Maeng-hee, former honorary chairman of CJ, and the late Son Bok-nam, former management advisor at CJ CheilJedang. His older sister is Lee Mi-kyung, vice chairman of CJ Group, and his younger brother is Lee Jae-hwan, chairman of Jaesan Holdings.

He graduated from Gyeongbok High School in Seoul and the Department of Law at Korea University.

After working at Citibank, he joined CheilJedang. He later moved to the Strategic Planning Office at Samsung Electronics, then returned to CheilJedang and was appointed CEO in 1997.

In 2002, he became CEO and chairman of CJ Group, expanding the business from a food-centered portfolio into logistics, biotechnology, and media.

After serving a prison sentence following a conviction on charges including tax evasion, he was released through a special Liberation Day pardon.

He returned to management in 2017 and has since been pushing ahead with mergers and acquisitions and restructuring the governance structure of affiliates.

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