Like the name of Rockefeller in the U.S., that of Byung Chull Lee means wealth in South Korea. Now 66, Lee has amassed his nation's largest personal fortunesome $500 million, or enough to put him in the same league with Karim Aga Khan, Nelson Bunker Hunt and Christina Onassis. He made every penny of it himself, building such a profitable group of diverse companies that Korean businessmen say he has a "golden touch." They also view him with fear: Lee does not gladly suffer critics or competitors.
Only his habit of chain smoking suggests the fierceness within. Outwardly, "B.C." is mild-mannered...