James Rhee
SPARKLABS ACQUISITION CORPORATION
James Rhee is currently the CEO and Managing Partner of SparkLabs Acquisition Corporation, an initiative focused on helping SparkLabs ecosystem companies with late stage funding and exits – especially focused on going public via a SPAC.
Prior to SparkLabs, James was the Founder and President of Aero K Holdings and Aero K Airlines, a startup in the aviation industry that seeks to leverage technology to change the customer experience and evolve the way airlines do business. Aero K had the largest initial capital raise of any independent startup in Korean history (54B KRW).
Prior to Aero K, he was CEO of AirAsia for North Asia where he was responsible for expanding their business into Japan, Korea, China and the Philippines. Prior to AirAsia, he was a Senior Adviser at Octave Private Equity Group where he led the development of an acquisition strategy for a $1 billion global business in the tech industry, and where he led the capital raise for establishing AirAsia Japan.
Prior to Octave, he held roles as Vice President and GM of Tyco Electronics Global PC Business, and Executive Officer at Dell where he led APJ Enterprise Marketing overviewing the PC, server, storage, software, services, cloud and solution businesses, and where he also led the APJ PC business $5B P&L. Prior to Dell, he was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company where he focused on M&A and the Financial and Telecommunication sectors. He began his career as a Research Officer at the International Monetary Fund.
James received his M.B.A. (Beta Gamma Sigma) from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and attended Vanderbilt University and the University of Minnesota where he received his B.S. in Economics.