Samuel Tak Lee

Samuel Tak Lee or Lee Tak-Yee (Chinese: 李德義; pinyin: Lǐ Déyì; born April 1939) is a Hong Kong billionaire property magnate.

Samuel Tak Lee
Lee at MIT on July 28, 2015
BornApril 1939 (age 81)
NationalityHong Kong
EducationDiocesan Boys' School, Hong Kong
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard Business School
OccupationProperty developer
Net worthUS$3.6 billion (January 2021)[1]
Children7

Early life

Lee was born in April 1939.[2] He was educated at Diocesan Boys' School in Mong Kok,[3] before earning bachelor's and master's degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964.[4] Lee then earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.[5]

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.[6][7] He took control of the entire business from his brother Lee Tak-Yan in 1985.[8] Prudential Enterprises owns the Prudential Hotel[9] in Hong Kong and has significant holdings in Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and Singapore.[10][11] In the UK, he purchased the 14 acre Langham Estate in London's Fitzrovia district in 1994.[12][13] A real estate portfolio Lee indirectly established in Tokyo in 1999 was eventually sold in 2017 for approximately $1.2 billion.[14][15][16][17][18]

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.[19][20][21] There had been persistent media speculation that Lee would eventually bid for control of Shaftesbury.[22][23][24] However, his interest in the company was sold to Capco for $544 million in June 2020.[25][26]

Lee has been noted for his vigorous defence of his estate’s legal rights and business interests.[8][12][27] In June 2019, The Times reported that Lee was suing Shaftesbury for £10.4 million in alleged losses over a share placing.[21]

According to Forbes, he had a net worth of $3.6 billion, as of January 2021.[1]

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.[7] 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.[28][29]

In 2015, Lee donated $118 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to be used to establish a real estate entrepreneurship lab focused on China.[30] The lab has been researching the impact of poor urban air quality on residents' health, social lives and behaviour.[31][32]

Personal life

Lee is married with seven children and lives between Hong Kong and London.[5] He reportedly owns the yachts Pelorus and Kogo.[33][34][35] The Lee family has a Boeing aircraft and a large car collection.[36][37][23]

Lee maintains a low profile and rarely speaks out about his many business dealings.[36] According to media reports and court documents Lee has a colourful personal life.[38][27][39][40]

It is also rumoured that either him or one of his 7 children owns the world's most expensive new car, the Rolls Royce Sweptail, costing around $12.8 million, along with some other extremely rare automobiles like two Ferrari F12 TRS, a Ferrari F50 GT, an Aston Martin One-77, a Ferrari F40 LM, a Ferrari FXX and FXX K, two McLaren F1 GTR LTs, and a Mercedes McLaren SLR Stirling Moss. [41]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Samuel Tak Lee". Forbes. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  2. "Langham Estate Management Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. DBS Movie Gallery, Speech Delivery by Mr Samuel Tak Lee 2008-2009, retrieved 5 February 2019
  4. Olsen, Robert. "Real Estate Billionaire Donates $118 Million To MIT". Forbes. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  5. "Samuel Tak Lee". Forbes.com. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  6. "PRUDENTIAL ENTERPRISE, LIMITED - THE - 恒豐企業有限公司". 30 April 1958.
  7. "Real Estate Billionaire Donates $118 Million to MIT". Forbes. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  8. Andrea Cockram. "Lee plays for keeps - Estates Gazette April 3, 2004". connection.ebscohost.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  9. Bruce Lee's (Hong Kong-American actor, director, martial artist) home was torn down in the late 70’s early 80’s to make way for the current building – The Prudential Centre – completed in 1982. (31 July 2014). "The Bruce Lee Guide to Yau Ma Tei". Hong Kong (& Macau) Stuff.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. Luigino Canal (2007) "Un mystérieux Chinois rachète le coeur de Genève" Édition Bilan, 09 mai 2007, p.16
  11. "MIT Receives $118M Gift From Alumnus". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  12. Chiu, Austin (21 October 2013). "Property tycoon Samuel Tak Lee challenges HK$1.4b awarded to son's ex-wife Florence Tsang Chiu-wing". The South China Morning Post. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  13. Moore, Malcolm (2 December 2011). "Asian property tycoon heir to pay £95 million to ex-wife". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  14. "Norges in $823M Japan JV with Tokyu Land". Mingtiandi. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  15. David. "Property news round up 17 Dec 2017 | PropertyInvestSG". Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  16. "Property tycoon Samuel Tak Lee challenges HK$1.4b awarded to son's ex-wife Florence Tsang Chiu-wing". South China Morning Post. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  17. "Veloqx group real estate". papode.ml. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  18. "Veloqx real estate". ringmares.ml. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  19. Marlow, Ben (15 July 2015). "Is Sammy Tak Lee hoping to get lucky with Shaftesbury offer?". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  20. Shah, Oliver (20 May 2018). "Hong Kong tycoon Samuel Tak Lee's war on Chinatown owner". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  21. Clarence-Smith, Louisa (12 June 2019). "Property tycoon sues West End landowner". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  22. UK, Will Martin, Business Insider. "The battle for a £3 billion property empire in London's Chinatown just took a new turn". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  23. "Time for 'Man of Mystery' Shaftesbury shareholder to put up or shut up". Evening Standard. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  24. "Samuel Tak Lee locks horns with Shaftesbury again". QuotedData. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  25. "Samuel Tak Lee Sells Stake in Shaftesbury for £436M". Mingtiandi. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  26. "Samuel Tak Lee Sells Stake in Shaftesbury for £436M". Mingtiandi. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  27. "Favor Easy Management Ltd, Samuel Tak Lee v Fuk Fei Wu, Favor Easy Management Ltd (2012)". www.maitlandchambers.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  28. "Donation of HK$70m among city's largest". South China Morning Post. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  29. "DBS64 50th Anniversary Magazine". Issuu. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  30. "Hong Kong tycoon Samuel Tak Lee donates US$118m to MIT for real estate studies". South China Morning Post. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  31. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (21 January 2019). "In China, a link between happiness and air quality: Moods expressed on social media tend to decline when air pollution gets worse, study finds". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  32. "The city is her lab -- Siqi Zheng studies the economics of China's urban explosion". MIT News. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  33. "Luxury Yacht Spotting: Pelorus Yacht". Total Croatia Sailing. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  34. "Pelorus sold to Chinese billionaire". Yacht Harbour. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  35. "SAMUEL TAK LEE: Inside his US$ 220,000,000 Yacht PELORUS". www.superyachtfan.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  36. Marlow, Ben (15 July 2015). "Is Sammy Tak Lee hoping to get lucky with Shaftesbury offer?". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  37. "Sam Li's Car Collection (China)". cars. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  38. "Tycoon who accused ex-lover of blackmail". Evening Standard. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  39. "Court slashes record divorce payout for property scion's ex-wife". South China Morning Post. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  40. Andrew Hough (30 July 2011). "Court forces property tycoon to give houses to mistress". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  41. "Who is the lucky owner of the brand new Rolls-Royce Sweptail? - Quora". www.quora.com. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
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