Thai Lee
Thai Lee is the owner, CEO and president of the largest female-owned business in America, SHI International.
Early years
Lee was born in Bangkok, Thailand. Her father was a prominent Korean economist. Lee was the second of three daughters and one son. During her teens, Lee moved to America with her older sister, Margaret, to attend high school in Amherst, Massachusetts. She went to Amherst College and earned a double major BA in biology and economics. Describing her career plans, she said, "I knew then that the best chance of success for me was to start my own business, because after I x-ed out all the professions I could not be successful in, that’s what I was left with.”[1]
Career beginnings
She returned to Korea after college and worked in an auto parts company called Daesung Industrial Co. in Seoul. Having raised the money for graduate school, she returned to the US and graduated in 1985 from Harvard Business School.[2] She was the first Korean woman to graduate from the business school. [3]She worked for two years at Procter & Gamble and two years at American Express. In 1989, Lee and her husband at the time, Leo Koguan, paid less than $1 million to purchase Software House, a small division of Lautek, a struggling software company in New Jersey.[2] They changed the company name to Software House International. [1]
Software House International
SHI had $3.5 billion in sales last year in 2014. They are one of the biggest IT providers in the world with $6 billion in sales and 3000 employees around the world.[4] They have approximately 17,500 customers including Boeing, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T. They have posted positive sales growth every year since Lee took over and they exceeded 15% growth in 2014. Lee owns 60% of the company and her ex-husband owns 40%. [1] SHI is one of the largest 100-percent-minority-owned companies in the U.S.[3]
Charity work
Lee is a member of the board of directors of The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. She was a term trustee of Amherst College from 1993 to 1999 and president of the Society of the Alumni from 2004 to 2005.[3]
Awards and honors
- Life Trustee, Amherst College
- Former President, Amherst College Alumni Society
- Harvard University, Dean of Advisory Board
- Distinguished Alumni Award, Harvard Business School
- Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2012
Family
Lee married Leo Koguan, a Columbia-educated lawyer, in 1989. They divorced in 2002. They have two teenage children. She lives in Lebanon, New Jersey.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Ewalt, David M. "The Modest Tycoon Behind America's Biggest Woman-Owned Business". Forbes. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ a b Young, Susan. "Thai Lee, MBA". Harvard Business School. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Thai Lee '80". Amherst College. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Kuranda, Sarah. "SHI International CEO Thai Lee: 'It's A Great Time To Be In IT'". CRN. Retrieved 1 June 2015.