April 19, 2024
SEARCH
NET WORTH Updated Weekly
-
BIRTH
04/18/1956
-
CORPORATION
Kolon Group
-
POSITION
Chairperson
-
EDUCATION
George Washington University Business Administration, Master
American University Business Administration
Shinil High School
LISTED STOCK WEALTH
US$98M ▼ $146K
UNLISTED STOCK WEALTH
$25M
Kolon Benit
MOD
Kolon Glotech
Kolon Environmental Service
Kolon Investment
Kolon eEngineering
Kolon Econergy
Cell Big
PROPERTIES
7 Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul / 1971㎡ (land) / Appraised value 5.19 billion won
BIOGRAPHY
Lee was born in Seoul in 1956 as the only son of Lee Dong-chan, honorary chairman of Kolon Group. The company was founded by Lee’s grandfather Lee Won-man who built up Kolon from scratch, introducing Nylon to Korea in 1953 and setting up the first Nylon manufacturer in 1957.
Lee Dong-chan took over control of the company in 1977, diversified business areas and handed over the ownership to his only son in 1996.
He majored in business at Korea University and earned an MBA at George Washington University. Since 1977, he built up his career working at New York and Tokyo branches of Kolon, and at the age of 40, stepped up as head of the group.
Faced with the foreign exchange crisis, he managed to survive, carrying out corporate restructuring by unburdening more than 10 subsidiaries and bringing down the debt ratio.
After three decades of R&D, Kolon announced that it had successfully manufactured Aramid, a super fiber, in 2005. This, however, was the beginning of a prolonged legal battle with DuPont, the largest U.S. chemical company. DuPont accused Kolon of theft of trade secrets for the making of anti-ballistic fiber used for Kevlar, and after six years of lawsuit with a $920 million verdict given and tossed, the two companies agreed to settle in 2015. Kolon is due to pay $275 million in settlement and $85 million in fines.
As of May 2016, Kolon’s holding company and Kolon Industries, the major affiliate, are under investigation for tax evasion. The group was probed for receiving favors and creating a slush fund in 2013. Former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk was sentenced to two years in jail for receiving illegal political funds. Lee Sang-deuk is the brother of former president Lee Myung-bak, and worked at Kolon between 1977 and 1988.
Lee married Seo Chang-heui, daughter of Seo Byeong-sik, president of Dongnam Wallcoverings Co., a premium wallpaper maker, in 1983 and has a son and two daughters. Son Kyu-ho studied hotel management at Cornell, joined the family business in 2012, and is currently working at Kolon Industries.
