Thai Lee (born 1958) is a Thai-born Korean-American

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...

businesswoman, the co-owner, CEO and president of SHI International, reported by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' to be the largest woman-owned business in the US. In May 2025, she was worth US$5.8 billion.

Early years

Thai Lee was born in 1958 in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand, and attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

, earning a double major BA in biology and economics, and in 1985, an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

. She was the first Korean woman to graduate from the business school.

Awards and honors

* Life Trustee,

* Former President, Amherst College Alumni Society *

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Dean's Advisory Board * Distinguished Alumni Award,

* Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012

Family

In 1989, Thai Lee married Leo Koguan, a Columbia University graduate, New York Law School-educated lawyer and the co-founder and chairman of SHI. They divorced in 2002. She has two teenage children. She lives in Austin, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Thai 1958 births Living people American women chief executives American billionaires Amherst College alumni Female billionaires Harvard Business School alumni American people of Korean descent Korean business executives 21st-century American women