Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee)

Miky Lee (Mie Kyung Lee) is the vice chairwoman of CJ Group. She is mainly responsible for the overall strategic direction and management of CJ Group’s entertainment and media division. Alongside her brother, Jay Lee, who is the chairman of CJ Corporation, Lee founded the entertainment and media division of CJ in 1994 after leading CJ to become one of the founding investors in DreamWorks. Since then, CJ has built many influential companies in Korea’s entertainment and media industry: CJ CGV, CJ Media, and Mnet Media, with each being the leader in its specialized field. CJ CGV is the first and largest multiplex chain; CJ Media is the leading cable network, operating seven cable channels with highest combined ratings; and Mnet Media is Korea’s first and only entertainment company that bases all its content on music such as cable music television, music distribution, and live concerts.

Prior to joining CJ, Lee served as the director of Samsung America, spearheading its cultural and educational projects. She established the Parsons School of Design in Seoul and oversaw the formation of a branch of Pasadena’s Arts Center College of Design for Samsung.

Lee has been widely recognized for leading the largest entertainment group in Korea and for her global vision. She was selected as a Global Leader for Tomorrow Community member by the World Economic Forum in 1997. At the 2006 Women’s World Awards, she became the first Asian woman to win the World Business Award. She was also selected as one of the leading executives in the film industry by Variety in its Women’s Impact Report 2006. In 2007, she received the CEO of the Year Award by Korean Management Association in recognition of her work in managing one of the largest companies in Korea.

Lee has always had a deep interest in education and crosscultural affairs. She earned her B.A. in 1981 at Seoul National University. She studied Chinese and linguistics at Taiwan National University (1981-1983) and Japanese at Japan’s Keio University (1984). In 1986, Lee received her M.A. in Asian studies from Harvard University. At Harvard, she served as a teaching fellow for three years in Korean language. She also studied Chinese literature and history at Fudan University in China.

Miky Lee is the first grandchild of B.C. Lee, the founder of CJ and the Samsung Group.