Chung Yong-jin, chairman of Shinsegae Group, visited the United States and met in succession with prominent local figures, including Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
According to Shinsegae Group on the 21st, Chung held a series of meetings from the 16th to the 18th in Florida and Los Angeles (LA) with Trump Jr., Misha Laskin, founder of Reflection AI, and David Ellison, Paramount-Skydance chief executive officer (CEO), among others.
Chung met with Trump Jr. and executives of 1789 Capital at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. 1789 Capital is an investment company in which Trump Jr. is involved.
Also present were Omeed Malik and Christopher Buskirk, co-founders of 1789 Capital. They discussed ways for Shinsegae Group to participate in a Palm Beach, Florida, development project led by 1789 Capital. Shinsegae Group plans to conduct a feasibility study on the project.
Chung then met Misha Laskin, the founder of Reflection AI. Reflection AI is a company founded by key researchers from Google DeepMind and has recently emerged as one of the most sought-after companies in artificial intelligence (AI), having secured $2 billion in investment from firms including Nvidia.
The two discussed whether Reflection AI's technology could be integrated into Shinsegae Group's core businesses. If the development of autonomous AI agents is successfully completed, it is expected to be applicable to every stage of retail—from product planning, sourcing, supply chain management, store operations, marketing and sales to customer service—Shinsegae said.
Chung Yong-jin, who traveled from Florida to LA, met David Ellison, Paramount-Skydance CEO, on the 18th. David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, founded the Hollywood studio Skydance and last year acquired Paramount, serving as CEO of the merged company. He has also recently been competing to acquire Warner Bros.
Chung and Ellison discussed ways to enhance synergy between Shinsegae Group and the Skydance group. They reviewed the status of investment cooperation for the Hwaseong International Theme Park and also discussed product development using Paramount IP. Shinsegae Group last year selected Paramount as a global brand partner for the development of the Hwaseong International Theme Park.
Shinsegae Group said, "Chung is focusing on solidifying the global network and identifying future growth drivers for Shinsegae Group through discussions on various business collaborations."