Lee Seung-hwan (35), CEO of Dolgo Donation and the great-grandson of the late Choi Jong-geon, founder of SK, as well as the fifth cousin of Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, revealed his daily life through YouTube.
On the 15th, Lee appeared on the YouTube channel ‘Human Story’ and showed a day in the life of a third-generation chaebol heir. The video starts at Lee’s residence in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The house is 120 pyeong (approximately 397 square meters), and Lee said he has lived there since the 6th grade of elementary school.
When asked to introduce himself, Lee replied, “I am Lee Seung-hwan, 35 years old. I am the CEO of the donation platform ‘Dolgo,’ and as a side job, I am the son of a second-generation chaebol. My mother is the daughter of founder Choi Jong-geon. I am a nephew of Chairman Choi Tae-won of SK.”
Regarding his appearance on the show, Lee said, “It was a really difficult decision. Honestly, I don’t have a particular reason to expose myself to the public. However, since I am involved in charity work and trying to change the culture of donation, I cannot do it alone. I thought I needed to pioneer the asset market with the public and create innovation, so I appeared to communicate.”
Lee stated, “We do 100% donation in and donation out. We incur a 3% loss due to card fees. It has been a long-term deficit.” He added, “My mother has provided a lot of financial support. The transaction volume is not large yet, so the card fees are manageable.”
When asked if he can endure the company’s continuous deficits thanks to inherited wealth, he said, “I don’t know all of my assets, but I know there is a certain amount. I’m not very interested. I don’t intend to spend it, and I don’t manage it. Personally, I have the ability to cover the deficits.”
It has been seven years since he founded the company. Lee revealed, “Around 2017, I fought with my uncle, got scolded, and left the company. Our visions didn’t match. After that, I started a business recklessly and failed. I thought about what I could do better than others,” and added, “I was interested in charity work and thought I could grow it into a global top 10, so I started.”
He said, “Like exercising to become stronger, I do good deeds not because I am a good person, but to become a good person.” His motto is, “If you don’t know how to be grateful, you don’t deserve to be appreciated. I try to live by that as well.”
Lee also mentioned difficulties living as a third-generation chaebol heir. He said, “You have to be this way, you have to be that way. People around me seem to have high expectations,” adding, “That was somewhat burdensome.” He continued, “Making friends was also very difficult.” Lee said, “They ask me to buy meals, buy drinks. It’s easy once, but there is pressure to keep doing it,” and added, “I think I spend tens of millions of won a year on meals.”
Lee also said he still receives an allowance from his parents. He said, “Personally, I have the ability to support myself. Since I receive an allowance, I lack a sense of reality about earning money. I don’t know the exact amount. I just put it all in my bank account and hardly spend it.”
He brought up the saying that “it’s hard for wealth to last three generations” and agreed with it. Lee said, “It’s hard to last four generations. Ultimately, I have to be the first generation chaebol,” and added, “I take startup founders who created something from nothing as mentors, seek their advice, and try to follow their example.”
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