Samuel Tak Lee or Lee Tak-Yee (Chinese: 李德義; pinyin: Lǐ Déyì; Jyutping: Lei5 Dak1-ji6; born April 1939) is a Hong Kong property billionaire. Lee was born in April 1939. He was educated at Diocesan Boys’ School in Mong Kok, before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. Lee then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School
The majority of Lee’s fortune is derived from Lee Kum Kee Group, a Hong Kong-based maker of Chinese condiments. It has been operating for more than 130 years, according to the company’s website.
Lee Kum Kee’s sauce and condiments division had about $2 billion in retail sales for its main categories in 2022, according to a Bloomberg analysis on Euromonitor International data. It’s valued based on the price-to-earning multiples of five publicly traded peers: Foshan Haitian Flavouring & Food Co., Sichuan Teway Food Group Co., Kikkoman Corp., Ajinomoto Co. and Thaitheparos Pcl.
Lee is credited as head of the family fortune in this analysis to reflect his status as chairman of the group. His father Lee Man Tat died in 2021.
The group also includes LKK Health, a maker and distributor of herbal health supplements under the brand Infinitus. It’s valued using reported financial results and the average enterprise value-to-Ebit, enterprise value-to-Ebitda and enterprise value-to-sales multiples of three publicly traded peers: USANA Health Sciences Inc., Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. and Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.
The family also owns at least seven properties across London, Hong Kong and mainland China. The value of the real estate is mostly based on acquisition prices adjusted to reflect an appreciation of market values. The group’s $1.7 billion purchase of 20 Fenchurch Street, known as the Walkie Talkie building, in 2017 was the highest price ever paid for a London office building.
Karen Ho, spokesperson LKK Health Products Group, and Carmen Lang, spokesperson for Lee Kum Kee, both declined to comment on the net worth calculation.
Career
After finishing his studies, Lee returned to Hong Kong to join Prudential Enterprise, the real estate company founded by his father and uncle in 1958. He took control of the entire business from his brother Lee Tak-Yan in 1985. Prudential Enterprises owns the Prudential Hotel in Hong Kong and has significant holdings in Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and Singapore. In the UK, he purchased the 14 acre Langham Estate in London’s Fitzrovia district in 1994. A real estate portfolio Lee indirectly established in Tokyo in 1999 was eventually sold in 2017 for approximately $1.2 billion.
By 2019 Lee had become the largest shareholder in Shaftesbury plc a large London real estate investment trust with a 26.3 per cent stake. There was persistent media speculation that Lee would eventually bid for control of Shaftesbury. The Times also reported that Lee was suing Shaftesbury for £10.4 million in alleged losses over a share placing. His interest in Shaftesbury was subsequently sold at a discount to Capco for $544 million in June 2020.
Lee has been noted for his vigorous defence of his estate’s legal rights and business interests. According to Forbes, he had a net worth of $3.6 billion, as of January 2021
Education: University of Southern California
Lee’s great-grandfather Lee Kum Sheung accidentally invented oyster sauce when he overcooked his soup. Inspired by the taste and aroma, he began selling it as a condiment and founded Lee Kum Kee.
After the original oyster sauce factory burned down in 1902, the business was rebuilt in neighboring Macau, and later set its headquarters in Hong Kong in 1932, according to the company’s website.
Lee joined the family business in the 1980s with four other siblings, and he later chaired its health product group, which has operated under the brand Infinitus.
Lee was appointed executive chairman of Lee Kum Kee Group in 2022. In this role he oversees the group’s various businesses including sauce, healthcare products, property and venture capital.
Philanthropy
In 2007, Lee donated HK$9 million to Hong Kong’s Diocesan Boys’ School, of which he was a student between 1951 and 1958. The donation was made to fund residential student growth with a new dormitory block for the school. One of Lee’s sons was studying at the school at that time.
Lee donated $118 million in 2015 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to be used to establish a real estate entrepreneurship lab focused on China. The lab has been researching the impact of poor urban air quality on residents’ health, social lives and behaviour.
Personal life
Lee is married with seven children and lives between Hong Kong and London. He reportedly owns the yachts Pelorus and Kogo. The Lee family reported owns a Boeing aircraft and a large car collection.
Lee maintains a low profile and rarely speaks out about his many business dealings. According to media reports and court documents Lee has a colourful personal life.
Samuel’s son, Samathur Li Kin-kan, is famous for his divorce settlement, which the court of Hong Kong awarded his ex-wife HK$1.2 billion.
Milestones
- 1888 Lee Kum Sheung invents oyster sauce.
- 1932 Relocated the brand’s headquarters to Hong Kong.
- 2012 Acquires ‘Walkie Talkie’ building in London.
- 2021 Lee Man Tat dies.
