Lee is the founder and largest shareholder of Henderson Land Development, a publicly traded real estate conglomerate. The Hong Kong-based company reported revenue of HK$25.6 billion ($3.3 billion) in 2022. The property developer also operates in financial services, department stores, hotels and infrastructure.
The majority of Lee's fortune derives from his 73% stake in Henderson Land Development, a publicly traded property developer. He owns the shares directly and through trusts and holding companies, according to the company's 2022 annual report.
Lee also owns 2% of Sun Hung Kai Properties, 22% of Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust and less than 1% of Hong Kong Ferry directly, according to corporate filings.
His indirect stakes in Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong Ferry and Sunlight Real Estate Investment Trust are held through Henderson Land Development and are not included separately in the net worth calculation to avoid double-counting.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes, market performance and charitable giving.
Lee's publicly held stakes were confirmed by Henderson Land executives. They declined to comment on his closely held assets.
Lee Shau Kee was born in 1928, the son of a Guangdong currency and gold trader. Lee immigrated to Hong Kong during the communist takeover of China in 1948. Lee found work in Hong Kong as a currency and gold dealer. His brother escaped to Macau.
Lee and seven partners, including Kwok Tak Seng and Fung King Hey, created a real estate business in 1958. Five years later, he founded Sun Hung Kai Properties with Kwok and Fung. The developer prospered as Hong Kong land values soared in the 1960s. All three men eventually became billionaires.
Lee left Sun Hung Kai in 1973 to form Henderson Development. His empire diversified into real estate management, hotels, natural gas distribution and a department store chain. He boosted Henderson's Hong Kong land bank to about 21.2 million square feet by June 2011, buying up old buildings and farmland, mostly in the New Territories, as prices fell during the 2008 financial crisis.