Lee Soo-man

Not to be confused with Lee Man-soo.
This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Soo-man
Born 18 June 1952
Nationality South Korea
Education M.A. in Computer Engineering
Alma mater California State University,
Seoul National University
Occupation Founder and majority shareholder of S.M. Entertainment
Relatives Lee Soon-kyu
Awards 2008 M.net Golden Disk Award for Record Producer of the Year
1997 SBS Seoul Music Award for Record Producer
2011 Seoul Cultural Arts Awards for Pop Music Producer's Award SM Entertainment
2012 1st Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards Kpop Contribution Award
Korean name
Hangul 이수만
Hanja 李秀滿
Revised Romanization I Su-man
McCune–Reischauer Yi Su-man

Lee Soo-man (born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean music mogul, musician, and record producer. He is the founding chairman of S.M. Entertainment, specializing in K-pop groups.[1] S.M. Entertainment is one of the Korean entertainment industry leader and Lee Soo-man's stock holdings currently amount to 200.1 billion KRW (approximately US$188.9 million) as of the year 2013 making him the second wealthiest celebrity stockholder.[2][3][4][5]

Lee started his career as a singer while attending Seoul National University in 1972. He co-founded the agency in 1989, which is now one of the largest record label in South Korea.

Biography

1952–1972: Early years

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea on 18 June 1952, and entered Seoul National University. He began singing in a coffee house in 1971.

1972–1980: Singer years

Lee debuted as a singer in 1972, and by 1976, with hits like "Happiness", and "One piece of Dream", his career began to take off. The following year, he received the MBC TOP 10 Singer award. Besides singing, he became a successful TV host during that time.

1980–1985: Studying in US

He formed the band 이수만과 365일 (Lee Soo Man and 365 days) in 1980, which became the first heavy metal band formed in the Korean music industry. But, at the same time, the new Chun Doo-hwan government began its policy of censoring the media. As a result, Lee saw no real future in Korean entertainment. The next year, 1981, he went back to pursuing his original dream of being a top engineer and moved to California to attend California State University, Northridge and to continue work on his Master's degree. His primary research area was in the field of robotics. However, Lee witnessed the revolution of US entertainment at that time, and felt there was huge commercial potential in that industry in Korea.

1985–present: Music producer

1985, just after earning his Master's degree, Lee returned to Korea to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. His return was a success in a variety of areas, such as singing, hosting TV shows, and hosting radio programs. Moreover, he was also working as a part-time DJ and managing a restaurant.

In 1989, starting with 200,000,000 won for initial capital, he founded SM Entertainment. In 1995, SM Entertainment became a publicly traded company. After producing H.O.T. in 1996, many others followed, and SM became the biggest entertainment company in South Korea. In February 2010, Lee resigned from his position as a member of the board of directors.[6]

Personal life

Lee Soo-man's wife, Kim Eun Jin, passed away due to cancer on 30 September 2014.[7]

He is the uncle of Sunny, a member of the popular South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. [8]

Discography

References

  1. ↑ The Existence of Vision Determines Fate The Dong-a Ilbo 11 August 2004
  2. ↑ Korean wave Korea Herald 2008– Page 293 "This is why Lee Soo-man, the founder and producer of SM Entertainment, has a somewhat gloomy outlook regarding the future of the Korean Wave. "The local pop music market almost doesn't exist now – with only a few albums selling over ...
  3. ↑ Billboard – 10 June3 2000 – Page 77 "Established in 1989 by former singer Lee Soo-man (now the company's CEO), SM Entertainment racked up profits of over 3 billion won ($2.68 million) in 1999 and projects profits of more than 3.7 billion won ($3.31 million) in 2000.
  4. ↑ Papers of the British Association for Korean Studies 2003 "measure band, built to emulate the success of H.O.T. An earlier boy band, H.O.T. were put together in 1997 by a manager, Lee Soo Man, a graduate of the nation's top university, Seoul National, and a product of the campus-led 'song ..."
  5. ↑ Keith Howard Korean pop music: riding the wave 2006– Page 95 "together in 1996 by Lee Soo Man, a graduate of Seoul National University and a product of the campus-led song movement. Lee surveyed teenage girls, then advertised for dancers who most closely fitted what the girls said they wanted."
  6. ↑ Kun-ouc, Park (25 February 2010). "Lee Soo-man steps down from SM board of directors". 10 Asia. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Lee Soo Man's (Former SM CEO) wife dies of cancer" (in Korean). Seoul: newsdaily.co.kr. 5 October 2014.
  8. ↑ '소녀시대' 써니는 이수만의 조카...아버지도 가수 출신 – 오마이뉴스. Ohmynews.com (January 18, 2013). Retrieved on March 16, 2015.

External links