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Person

Samuel Tak Lee

Born:

1939 1

References

  1. “Samuel Tak Lee.” Prabook. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://prabook.com/web/samuel.lee/1906553
Industry:

Real Estate
Net Worth (2023):

$3.7 Billion 1

References

  1. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
Education:

Bachelor of Arts/Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School 1

References

  1. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb

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Samuel Tak Lee is a Hong Kong real estate developer with a reported net worth of $3.7 billion. 1 He is the chairman of Prudential Enterprise Limited. 2 3

Lee founded the Tak Lee Foundation to fund educational and cultural institutions in Hong Kong and Mainland China. 4

In 2015, Lee donated $118 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish the Samuel Tak Lee MIT Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab with a focus on working with China. 5 6

Background

Samuel Tak Lee is a billionaire Hong Kong real-estate investor and developer with properties around the world including in London, Geneva, Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore. 7 8

Lee had an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion as of July 2023, according to Forbes. 9 Lee is based in London and Hong Kong. 10 11

A father of seven, he was born in April 1939 in China’s Guangdong Province. His family moved to Hong Kong shortly after his birth, and he grew up there. 12 13

Lee earned a Master of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts/Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 14

Business Career

In 1958, Samuel Tak Lee’s father teamed up with a cousin to establish Prudential Enterprise Limited, which holds properties including the Prudential Hotel in the Jordan section of Hong Kong. 15 16 Lee inherited the business and is chairman. 17

Lee also bought the Langham Estate in London for $75 million in 1994. From there, he developed the Knightsbridge Apartments in the Knightsbridge neighborhood of London. 18

In 2019, Lee sued Shaftesbury PLC, one of the biggest property owners in London’s West End, of which he owned a 26.3 percent stake. He sought £10.4 million (or equivalent to about $11.3 million U.S. dollars at the time) for alleged losses claiming that £265 million fundraising in December 2017 diluted his stake (or about $277 million in U.S. dollars for 2017). The Shaftesbury board countered the lawsuit had no merit. 19

In 2020, Lee sold his 26.3 percent stake in Shaftesbury PLC for £436 million (approximately $540.7 million) to British property manager Capital & Counties Properties (also known as Capco). 20 He also dropped his lawsuit. 21

His investments also include a redevelopment of the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank that spans eight buildings with more than 800,000 square feet of commercial, residential, and retail space. 22

He has also invested in banking, aviation, and hospitality. 23

Philanthropy

In 1992, Samuel Tak Lee founded the Tak Lee Foundation, a charitable organization, to fund educational and cultural institutions in Hong Kong and mainland China. 24 The Tak Lee Charitable Trust has donated more than $40 million in Britain. 25

Lee donated $9 million to Hong Kong’s Diocesan Boys School In 2007. He was a student at the school between 1951 and 1958. 26

In 2015, Lee donated $118 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to establish the Samuel Tak Lee MIT Real Estate Entrepreneurship Lab to focus on cooperation with China. 27 28 MIT’s Center for Real Estate and the Department of Urban Studies and Planning had decided to expand the field of sustainable real estate development with an emphasis on China. The Lee donation funded an endowed chair for its professorial leadership known as the Sam Tak Lee Chair. 29

Lee’s contribution one of the largest single donations in MIT history. It will fund fellowships for U.S. and international students, support research on sustainable development and put the lab’s curriculum online, according to MIT’s announcement of the grant. Lee said at the time that the program will tie the study of real estate to 21st-century realities such as land reform, environmental challenges, and population increases. 30 In honor of Lee’s donation, MIT named the building that houses the Center for Real Estate, the Samuel Tak Lee Building. 31

References

  1. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  2. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  3. “Samuel Tak Lee’s Net Worth, Biography, Career, Awards, Fact and Life Story.” ZGR. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.zgr.net/en/wiki/samuel-tak-lees-net-worth-biography-career-awards-fact-and-life-story/
  4. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  5. Staiti, Chris. “Hong Kong’s Lee Gives $118 Million to MIT for Real Estate Lab.” Bloomberg. January 8, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-08/hong-kong-s-lee-gives-118-million-to-mit-for-real-estate-lab
  6. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  7. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  8. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  9. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  10. “Samuel Tak Lee.” SuccessStory. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://successstory.com/people/samuel-tak-lee
  11. Allen, Vanessa. “Revealed: One of world’s richest men is exposed as a liar who falsely accused mistress of £3m blackmail.” Daily Mail. September 27, 2011. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2041984/Samuel-Tak-Lee-Billionaire-falsely-accused-mistress-Fuk-Wu-3m-blackmail.html
  12. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  13. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  14. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  15. “Samuel Tak Lee’s Net Worth, Biography, Career, Awards, Fact and Life Story.” ZGR. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.zgr.net/en/wiki/samuel-tak-lees-net-worth-biography-career-awards-fact-and-life-story/
  16. Olsen, Robert. “Real Estate Billionaire Donates $118 Million To MIT.” Forbes. Jan 10, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2015/01/10/real-estate-billionaire-donates-118-million-to-mit/?sh=7e1aaf152463
  17. “Samuel Tak Lee.” Super Yacht Fan. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/pelorus/owner/
  18. Olsen, Robert. “Real Estate Billionaire Donates $118 Million To MIT.” Forbes. Jan 10, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2015/01/10/real-estate-billionaire-donates-118-million-to-mit/?sh=7e1aaf152463
  19. Clarence-Smith, Louisa. “Property tycoon sues West End landowner.” The Times of London. June 12 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/property-tycoon-sues-west-end-landowner-xnfc2jf9k
  20. Staff. “UK’s Capco buys 26% stake in rival Shaftesbury for $540 mln.” Reuters. June 1, 2020. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/article/shaftesbury-stake-capital-counties-idUSL4N2DE1QM
  21. Hatton, James. “Hong Kong Property Tycoon Sells Stake in West London REIT for £436M.” Mingtiandi. June 2, 2020. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.mingtiandi.com/real-estate/outbound-investment/samuel-tak-lee-sells-stake-in-shaftesbury-for-436m/
  22. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  23. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  24. Miller, Calvin. “Samuel Tak Lee Net Worth.” NCESC. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.ncesc.com/samuel-tak-lee-net-worth/
  25. “Samuel Tak Lee.” Super Yacht Fan. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.superyachtfan.com/yacht/pelorus/owner/
  26. Olsen, Robert. “Real Estate Billionaire Donates $118 Million To MIT.” Forbes. Jan 10, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertolsen/2015/01/10/real-estate-billionaire-donates-118-million-to-mit/?sh=7e1aaf152463
  27. Staiti, Chris. “Hong Kong’s Lee Gives $118 Million to MIT for Real Estate Lab.” Bloomberg. January 8, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-08/hong-kong-s-lee-gives-118-million-to-mit-for-real-estate-lab
  28. Samuel Tak Lee. Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/profile/samuel-tak-lee/?sh=7570221c37eb
  29. “Samuel Tak Lee Endowed Professor in Real Estate Entrepreneurship and Development.” Center for Real Estate. Massachusetts Institute for Technology. March 30, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://cre.mit.edu/news-insights/samuel-tak-lee-endowed-professor-in-real-estate-entrepreneurship-and-development/
  30. Staiti, Chris. “Hong Kong’s Lee Gives $118 Million to MIT for Real Estate Lab.” Bloomberg. January 8, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-08/hong-kong-s-lee-gives-118-million-to-mit-for-real-estate-lab
  31. Associated Press. “MIT Receives $118M Gift From Alumnus.” WBUR. January 8, 2015. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.wbur.org/news/2015/01/08/mit-samuel-tak-lee-gift
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