A young heiress to a multi-billion dollar fortune met a tragic end.
Lee Yoon Hyung (born in 1979) was the daughter of Lee Kun Hee, the chairman of the Samsung Group. She was the youngest of four children and one of the five richest women in Korea at the time alongside her family members. It was revealed in 2003 that she owned $191 million USD of Samsung stock.
Lee Yoon Hyung
Lee Yoon Hyung was known for her incredible wealth, gorgeous looks, and playful personality. She even ran a blog called Pretty Yoon Hyung that detailed her extravagant lifestyle.
As a powerful heiress, she was always accompanied by two full-time bodyguards when she was in Korea. She graduated from Ewha Womans University in Seoul then moved to New York, USA, to complete a graduate degree at NYU Steinhardt. She lived in a luxurious apartment in Astor Place in the East Village during this time, with a 24-hour driver at her beck and call.
Despite this lavish lifestyle, her life was not as happy as it may have seemed. A doorman at her building told reporters that she would stay in her apartment for a week at a time. A source close to her also suggested that she was lonely and dressed during her time in New York.
Part of the reason behind this was supposedly tied to her romantic relationship. Lee Yoon Hyung fell in love with a middle class man back in South Korea.
Though not poor, his “commoner” status was stark enough compared to the millionaire that her family forbade her from seeing him. The couple broke up after her parents intervened, considering him too lowly of match.
Lee Yoon Hyung died by suicide on November 18, 2005 after hanging herself in her New York apartment.
She was 26 years old.
