Yongmee Michele Kang (born 1 June 1959) is an American businesswoman, philanthropist, investor, and owner of multiple association football teams. She became vice president of the e-Business unit of Northrop Grumman in 2000. In 2008, she founded Cognosante, a medical technology company, and Cognosante Ventures, a venture capital firm.
Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Kang studied at Ewha Womans University and Sogang University before moving to the United States in 1980. She graduated in economics from the University of Chicago, and later earned a master's degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management.
Since 2020, Kang has focused on investing in women's football. She became majority owner of the Washington Spirit, which competes in the NWSL; the London City Lionesses, which was promoted to the Women's Super League at the end of the 2024–25 season; and OL Lyonnes, which competes in the French Première Ligue and the record winner of UEFA Women's Champions League. In 2024, she established London-based Kynisca as an umbrella management group for her multi-club ownership structure.
In 2025, she became president of Olympique Lyonnais (the men's club), and the majority owner in 2026. Kang has been described as "the first tycoon of women's football."
Early life and education
Kang was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, the youngest of three sisters. She studied at the Ewha Womans University, a private institute in Seoul. Her ambitions had been to become either an opera singer, a professional basketball player, or a teacher. Encouraged by her father to study business administration, she entered Sogang University in Seoul in 1980. The only female student, she topped her class in the first year, but realized that she could have better opportunities in the U.S.
As she related about her growing up, Korean women were expected to get a proper education but not for a profession; even if one was highly educated, they were expected to ultimately get married and raise their families. In her own words:Even if you graduate with the highest score, you would probably be an assistant to the chairman. Then, when you get married, you will be voluntarily or involuntarily asked to leave.In 1981, Kang's parents allowed her to move abroad to pursue her academic pursuits. Using a loan originally intended for her future wedding, she moved to Chicago, enrolling as an economics major at the University of Chicago. After obtaining her bachelor's degree, she earned a master's degree in public and private management (MPPM) at the Yale University School of Organization and Management (which later became the Yale School of Management and the degree, Master of Business Administration, or MBA).
Business career Beginning Kang initially worked as a management consultant for various companies related to information technology. She then became a partner with Ernst & Young, specializing in the high-tech and telecommunications industries.
Northrop Grumman Kang joined Northrop Grumman, the American aerospace and defense technology company, in 2000 as a senior executive. In 2003, she became vice president of their Health & Science Solutions unit. During her four-year leadership, the company was estimated to have grown four-fold.
Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Following the resignation of two directors in 2006, Kang, along with Charles Beever and Kwang Soo Cheong, were elected to the board of directors at Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, headquartered at Rockville, Maryland. Rexahn and Ochupirre Pharma, Inc., a privately held clinical-state ophthalmic biopharmaceutical company, merged in 2020.
Cognosante In 2008, Kang resigned from Northrop Grumman to start her own company which she named in "the empty room above her garage". Her aim for the company was "to disrupt and challenge the status quo in the U.S. healthcare system". The corporation works with federal and state health agencies to "expand access to care, improve care delivery, address social determinants of health, and ensure safety and security through multi-faceted technology and customer experience (CX) solutions." Kang has said that she is focused on developing a pipeline of opportunities that "will directly improve the lives of veterans, military spouses, persons with disabilities, seniors and residents in underserved communities."
On 15 April 2024, Michele sold Cognosante to Accenture Federal Services for undisclosed financial terms. The transaction was completed in May 2024.
Eagle Football Holdings Limited Eagle Football Holdings was founded in 2022 and is owned by John Textor for the management of his majority-owned football clubs, Botafogo FR in Brazil, Olympique Lyonnais in France and RWDM Brussels in Belgium. Kang joined the company's board of directors on 21 March 2023, becoming a minority owner. By then, the company faced a sharp financial decline of 19% from the previous year, amounting to $540 million in debts. Mainly due to Kang's contributions, the company saw 24% increase in revenue by 2024, stability of the expenditure and cutting the total deficit to £422 million.
OL Groupe/Eagle Football Group The OL Groupe was established in 1999 to manage Olympique Lyonnais and the club's assets. Textor acquired the majority ownership in 2022 and the company became a subsidiary of Eagle Football Holdings. By 2023, the OL Groupe's management of the club was critically penurious that the Direction Nationale du Contrôle de Gestion (DNCG, the French authority for monitoring the finances of French football clubs) issued a warning, if the company could not provide an additional €60 ($70) million to the club, it could face sanction.
Textor became chairperson of the OL Groupe in May 2023, and his major task was resolving the club's financial problems. One solution was to sell LDLC arena, a multi-purpose indoor stadium, either as full or 40 percent purchase, and its women's football teams. The company had Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, affiliated with the Lyon men's team, and Seattle Reign FC (then called OL Reign) that competed in the US National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was an opportunity for Kang to acquire the teams, but could not go for OL Reign since she already had Washington Sprit, which also competes in NWSL. It is general rule, but sometimes controversial system, in football that different teams owned by a single entity should not play in the same competition. On 12 April 2023, Kang announced a plan to get a majority ownership for Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, she would get 52 percent of the total share and the remaining retained by OL Groupe. On 8 September 2023, OL Groupe announced the induction of Kang to its board of directors following the exit of Durcesio Mello. By 2025, Kang became the third largest investor in the Eagle Football Group.
Kynisca
When Kang acquired Olympique Lyonnais Féminin in May 2023, her plan was to create a separate global women's football organization. On 27 July 2024, Kang announced the launch of Kynisca, a London-based company that would serve as the umbrella group for her multi-team sports ownership and sports science efforts. The company was named after Cynisca of Sparta, the first woman to win an event in the ancient Olympic Games. The announcement claimed that the organization was the first international group dedicated to women's association football. The launch was announced in Paris during the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kang also announced the launch of $50 million in seed and matching funding for the Kynisca Innovation Hub, a non-profit research initiative specialized in female sports training.
In October 2024, Kang's Kynisca hired former FC Barcelona Femení sporting director and Royal Spanish Football Federation women's football head Markel Zubizarreta to be Kynisca's global sporting director, overseeing all of its component clubs. On 19 November 2024, Kang pledged to donate $30 million to U.S. Soccer over the next five years, the largest philanthropic investment in U.S. Soccer's women's and girls' program and the most generous donation ever made to U.S. Soccer by a woman. On 31 October 2024, Kynisca led a $2 million seed funding round for IDA Sports, a company producing cleats and turf shoes for female athletes.
On 4 April 2025, Kang announced at the SheBelieves Summit that the operations of the Kynisca Innovation Hub will integrate into U.S. Soccer's Soccer Forward Foundation, amounting a $25 million investment to support U.S. Soccer's efforts. This brings Kang's total investment to the Federation to $55 million.
Kang Women's Institute On 2 December 2025, Kang launched the Kang Women's Institute in partnership with the Soccer Forward foundation of the United States Soccer Federation. The primary objective of the institute is for a systematic study on the needs of female athletes and working in collaboration with the NWSL and the United Soccer League. Research into women's welfare and health issues are started in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Kang committed $55 million for the project, $25 million will be for the management of the institute and $30 million will be distributed for youth sports, coaching development, and player pathways.
Sports ownership Kang has been called "the first tycoon of women's football" as she owns multiple football clubs in US, England and France. BBC described her as "leading a football revolution."
Washington Spirit
Background Kang had little knowledge of football before she entered into club ownership. She had played football and volleyball in her college days, but tennis became her favorite sport. She did not know anything about football clubs, the business, or the players, as she remarked: "I didn't even know who [Lionel] Messi was." In 2019, the United States women's national soccer team won the FIFA Women's World Cup. Kang attended the formal celebration on Capitol Hill; it was only then and there that she came to learn the nature of women's football and the existence of the football club, the Washington Spirit. She was invited to the celebration by Tom Daschle, a board member at Cognosante and former Democratic senator. Daschle introduced her to Steve Baldwin, the managing owner of the Washington Spirit. Baldwin immediately won her over to join the club ownership group. Kang later said "When I met the team after the World Cup, I knew I wanted to help lead this club. I believe it is essential for successful women to take the lead in advancing other women, and I look forward to doing so for the women of the Washington Spirit."
Acquisition of the Spirit On 29 December 2020, the Spirit announced that Kang had joined the club's ownership group. Later reports confirmed that she had a 35 percent stake in the team, equal to former majority owner Steve Baldwin's stake, though Baldwin retained control over the team. Following Spirit coach Richie Burke removing himself from coaching duties in August 2021 and subsequent media reports alleging abusive behavior by Burke toward players, Kang began pursuing majority and controlling ownership of the club.
After a protracted negotiation process, Baldwin and minority owner Bill Lynch agreed to sell the club to Kang. Following league approvals, Kang officially became the majority owner on 30 March 2022. She became the first woman of color to be the majority owner of an NWSL club.
During the negotiations, the Spirit won the 2021 NWSL championship on 20 November 2021, defeating the Chicago Red Stars 2–1.
On 24 May 2023, Kang's acquisition of the Spirit was named the Sports Business Journal 2023 'Deal of the Year'.
OL Lyonnes