Lee Soo-man

Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational entertainment company based in Seoul.[1] He has also been referred to as the "president of culture", as one of the pioneers of the Korean Wave.[2] Lee debuted as a singer in 1971 while he was a student at Seoul National University. In 1989, he founded SM Entertainment, which has since become one of the largest entertainment companies in the country.

Biography

1952–1980: Early years and singing career

Lee was born in Jeonju, South Korea, on 18 June 1952, and attended Seoul National University on and off between 1971 and 1979.[3][4]

2022–present: Departure from SM Entertainment

In October 2022, SM announced that they would terminate their production contract with Lee's Like Planning by the end of the year.[22] On 3 February 2023, SM said that they would restructure the company without the help of Lee, adopting a multi-production center system to replace his role as chief producer.[23] Kakao Entertainment purchased a 9.05% stake in SM, making them the second-largest shareholder, and signed a business agreement with SM to fund their plans.[24] Lee, objecting to this, filed an injunction against the issuance of new shares and convertible bonds, which was upheld by the court.[25] He sold his stake in SM to Hybe Corporation, making them the biggest shareholder. Hybe announced their intention to acquire the company with Lee's support. This sparked a battle for SM's management rights, putting Lee and Hybe against the SM executives and Kakao.[26] Lee Sung-soo, SM's co-CEO and Lee's nephew by marriage, uploaded a video to YouTube in which he levelled a series of accusations at Lee. In the video, he claimed that Lee had founded a company called CT Planning Limited in Hong Kong in 2019 to evade taxes, through which he was taking 6% of earnings from artists' overseas activities. The company had been established using SM's assets but was owned solely by Lee, and was the foreign equivalent of Like Planning. He also said that Lee wanted to force artists to publicly declare his importance to the company and attempted to insert environmental references into songs to promote his business interests.[14][27][28] The National Tax Service said they would investigate the claims of tax evasion.[29] Lacking the funds of their competitor, Hybe eventually withdrew from the takeover battle, enabling Kakao to become the largest shareholder and obtain management rights.[30] Lee released a statement saying he was "moving toward the future".[31]

Upon leaving SM, Lee established a company called Blooming Grace, which will focus "on the fusion of culture and technology". He acquired part of the Chinese autonomous aerial vehicle company EHang.[17] He later also founded a new entertainment company named A2O Entertainment.[32]

Controversies

Embezzlement case and conviction

In 2002, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea found evidence of Lee earning tens of billions worth of illegal market profits in August 1999 by acquiring 1.1 billion worth of stocks when listing stocks of SM Entertainment at KOSDAQ by a paid-in capital increase.[38] The Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea also investigated Lee regarding circumstantial evidence of lobbying to producers in broadcasting stations and keeping a tremendous amount of cash in his personal office and vaults.[39]

Lee tried to escape prosecution by staying overseas from June 2002, and was found in a golf course in Los Angeles on 2 August in the same year.[40] While on the run, Lee's passport was nullified and Lee was chased by Interpol.[41] Lee eventually came back to Korea to be investigated on 22 May 2003.[42] A pre-arrest warrant was issued on 7 October,[43] and Lee was arrested on 8 October.[44] On 14 October, Lee was approved of bail after paying 30 million won. On 19 October, Lee was prosecuted without detention.[45]

In September 2004, the Supreme Court of Korea sentenced Lee to two years of imprisonment along with three years of probation.[46] Lee was released in a special exemption in 2007 commemorating the fourth year of Roh Moo-hyun's presidency.

Slave contract

In 2009, three members of the boy band TVXQ took their management agency SM Entertainment owned by Lee to court, claiming that the agency's 13-year-contract (often nicknamed a slave contract) was too long, too restrictive, and gave them almost none of the profits from their success.[47][48] The following year, in 2010, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) created a rule that limited entertainment contracts to seven years.[49]

Other controversies

In 2015, Lee Soo-man was alleged to have violated foreign exchange rules, having failed to report real estate purchased in Los Angeles, as mandated by the Foreign Exchange Law. His company responded that it was a "mistake" made by their American subsidiary.[50] In 2021, he was included in the names of figures in the Pandora Papers. He was mentioned 399 times across 280 documents, tying him to eight paper companies in Hong Kong, five of which used a nominee service to conceal the source of their funds. SM Entertainment denied the allegations and said the companies had been founded using his father's assets.[51] Lee and SM were investigated by the National Tax Service following suspicions that he had omitted financial information and leaked company money in corporate transactions. As a result, SM was ordered to pay the government 20.2 billion won.[52]

birth date	June 18, 1952
birth place	Jeonju, Jeolla Province, South Korea
awards	ROK Order of Cultural Merit Eun-gwan (2nd Class) ribbon.PNG Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit (2011)
alma mater	Seoul National University (B.Eng.) California State University, Northridge (MS)
occupation	Business executive record producer
spouse	Kim Eun-jin (formerly known as Kim Ji Hye) (m. 1984-2014)
children	2
relatives	Lee Sung-soo (nephew) Sunny (niece)

Biography

1952–1980: Early years and singing career

1980–1985: Studies in the United States

1985–2021: Founding SM Entertainment

2022–present: Departure from SM Entertainment

Personal life

Philanthropy

Controversies

Embezzlement case and conviction

Slave contract

Other controversies

Discography

Albums

Accolades

Awards

State and cultural honors

Listicles

External links

References