Though she is an heiress to the Samsung Group, Lee is a skilled and driven businesswoman in her own right.

As the head of Hotel Shilla—the empire’s $2.6 billion hospitality company—Lee runs a line of luxury hotels and a fast-growing duty-free business, which she is now expanding overseas.

Hotel Shilla’s profits increased 61% in 2014.

Given her father’s ailing health, many expect Lee’s powers to grow: at Samsung C&T, the de facto holding company of the Samsung Group and South Korea’s largest conglomerate, she is an Adviser with the Trading & Investment Group and President of the Resort & Construction Group’s Management Strategy Division.

—Erika Fry ^[0]