- As Vice Chairwoman of the CJ Group, Miky Lee is a pioneering force in the entertainment industry, providing visionary leadership and direction while overseeing the company's vast entertainment and media ventures, notably founding its subsidiary entertainment and media division, CJ ENM. Through CJ ENM, Lee became an early investor in DreamWorks SKG in 1995.
Since then, she has played a crucial role in strengthening CJ ENM's presence as a leading force of the global cultural phenomenon of the Korean Wave. Lee has been a driving force behind the international success of K-Pop through her creation and expansion of "KCON," the world's largest K-culture and music festival in the U.S., Middle East, Europe, and Asia, as well as the "MAMA Awards."
Lee's executive expertise extends to producing acclaimed films and television series, including the groundbreaking 2019 film "Parasite" from director Bong Jon-Ho, which made history as the first foreign-language film to win the Best Picture Oscar, as well as the 2024 Oscar-nominated film "Past Lives." In 2022, Lee produced neo-noir romantic mystery "Decision to Leave" as well as the poignant road picture "Broker," which were awarded Best Director and Best Actor, respectively, at the Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to her role at the CJ Group, Lee serves on the boards of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Berklee College of Music, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Hammer Museum, and the Otis College of Art and Design. She has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the 2022 Pillar Award from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the 2022 International Emmy Directorate Award from the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the 2024 Abu Dhabi Festival Award from the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), recognizing her instrumental role in shaping the entertainment industry and her trailblazing elevation of Korean culture on the global stage. In 2023, Lee received the Geumgwan (Gold Crown) Order of Cultural Merit by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the highest honor in South Korea's Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards, as well as the Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council in 2024, for her significant contributions to the growth of the Korean film and entertainment industry.
- IMDb mini biography by: 42West
- Samsung Royalty: She is the eldest granddaughter of Lee Byung-chul, the legendary founder of the Samsung Group.
- Sugar to Cinema: Her grandfather initially founded CheilJedang (now CJ Group) as a sugar and flour manufacturing company. Miky took her share of the family business and pivotally expanded it into a multi-billion dollar entertainment juggernaut.
- The "Parasite" Irony: Critics frequently point out the supreme irony that Lee—one of the wealthiest elites in South Korea's chaebol class—was the primary financial backer and executive producer of Parasite, a film that fiercely satirises and demonises the elite social class she belongs to.
- Saved DreamWorks: In 1995, Lee drove CJ Group to invest $300 million into the newly formed DreamWorks SKG in exchange for its Asian distribution rights. Co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg stated that without Lee's initial gamble, DreamWorks would not exist today.
- Multiplex Pioneer: She radically transformed South Korean film culture by building the country's very first multiplex cinema (CGV) in 1998, giving CJ a hand in everything from film production to the movie theater seats.
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