| CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun announces the conglomerate's mid-term vision in a pre-recorded video message released on Nov. 3. Courtesy of CJ Group |
This is the first in a two-part series of articles on CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun and the visibility of his recently-announced corporate initiative for sustainable growth associated with culture, platform, wellness and sustainability. _ ED.
CJ Group leader faithfully turns starting business of Samsung into prosperous conglomerate
By Yi Whan-woo
CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun can be said to be faithful to the responsibilities expected of the first-born son that have been required by Korean families for centuries.
The eldest grandson of Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chull, the CJ chairman turned Cheil Jedang, a sugar milling company that was the progenitor of tech giant Samsung Electronics, into the country's 13th-largest conglomerate. Lee took over the helm of CJ Group in the 1990s after it was spun off from Samsung Group.
Renamed CJ CheilJedang, the company has been central to the group's business expansion for nearly three decades.
Sugar sales may have dropped as consumers are increasingly interested in healthy lifestyles and diets. But this has not stopped CJ CheilJedang from being at the forefront of the conglomerate's earnings, as the company successfully adapted to market trends by shifting its product line-up to healthy, ready-made food.
More recently, CJ CheilJedang launched “bibigo,” a global Korean cuisine brand that is benefiting from the popularity of hallyu or the Korean Wave.
CJ CheilJedang also branched out into biotechnology, as seen from its plan to acquire a 76 percent stake in Dutch biopharmaceutical CDMO Batavia Biosciences B.V.
The Korean conglomerate's key affiliates include CJ Logistics and CJ ENM, whose areas of business range from shipping services to home shopping, movie theater chains, film distribution and production as well as media content.
“The eldest grandson of Lee Byung-chull is a description that is associated with Lee even to date, and the chairman appears to be handling the emotional burden successfully,” an analyst covering the country's top conglomerates said, Monday.
The analyst pointed out that the conglomerate's sales increased from less than 2 trillion in 1995, when Cheil Jedang was separated from Samsung Group, to more than 30 trillion won ($25.4 billion) by 2020.
The analyst added that Lee, 61, should be noted as well for “being the proud son of” the late Lee Maeng-hee, the eldest and ill-fated son of Lee Byung-chull who was pushed out of competition in a power struggle with his younger brother and late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Lee Maeng-hee served as the honorary chairman of CJ Group until his death in 2015 and did not reconcile with Lee Kun-hee, who died in 2020.
Lee Maeng-hee is known to have lost the trust of his father, Lee Byung-chull, after causing Samsung's first public scandal by smuggling 55 tons of saccharine into Korea disguised as construction materials in 1966. The incident, which was discovered by the authorities, caused major damage to the elder Lee's business and honor.
But the Samsung founder apparently cared about Lee Jay-hyun as his eldest grandson.
For instance, he became upset and ordered Lee Jay-hyun to work for Samsung after learning that the young man began working for Citibank after graduating from university in the 1980s.
The CJ Group chairman resembles his late grandfather in terms of management principles, according to industry watchers.
The two are known for valuing talented workers, while being courteous to employees regardless of their rank.
Like other “chaebol” leaders, Lee Jay-hyun has had a checkered history and served time in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars before being granted a special pardon in 2016 by then-President Park Geun-hye.
The responsibilities of the first-born son will apparently continue on in the next generation.
The chairman's eldest son and the group heir, Lee Sun-ho, 32, is on track to succeed management after joining CJ CheilJedang in 2013.
After temporarily stopping work following drug charges, the younger Lee returned as the head of the global business team this year.
In what is seen as a bid to speed up the conglomerate's management succession, CJ Group sold stakes in beauty store chain CJ Olive Young, while filling up senior executive positions with younger faces.
In August, Lee Sun-ho, purchased a 19.6 billion won mansion formerly owned by Lee Kun-hee in central Seoul.
Led by his father, the CJ Cultural Foundation separately bought a mansion that belonged to Lee Byung-chull and was inherited by Lee Kun-hee.
“Owning two symbolic homes of the Samsung family is meaningful for CJ Group,” a company official said.