Thai Lee and her then-husband bought a tiny software reseller for less than $1 million in 1989, and Lee turned it into SHI International, a privately held global IT provider with roughly $15 billion to $16 billion in annual sales. [1][2][3]
Her starting capital was small relative to the company she built
Lee was born in Bangkok to Korean parents, grew up largely in South Korea and moved to the United States for high school before earning degrees from Amherst and Harvard Business School; her father was a prominent economist, but the reviewed evidence does not show an inherited operating company or fortune. [1][2]
After working at Procter & Gamble and American Express, Lee and Leo KoGuan bought a struggling software-reseller operation in 1989 for less than $1 million, financing the purchase with savings and small loans. [1][2]
The acquired business had only a handful of employees and customers, so most of the economic scale behind Lee's later fortune came from expansion after the purchase rather than from the value of the asset they initially bought. [2]
SHI compounded through customer retention and organic growth
Under Lee's leadership, SHI expanded from software licensing into hardware, infrastructure, managed services and broader technology solutions while emphasizing employee autonomy and unusually high customer retention. [2][3]
SHI says Lee has remained chief executive since 1989 and grew the company from roughly $1 million in scale to about $15 billion in revenue, while Forbes reports roughly $16 billion in gross sales and a 60% ownership stake for Lee. [1][3]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 30, 2026.
- Thai Lee · Forbes · Sep 15, 2026
- The Modest Tycoon Behind America's Biggest Woman-Owned Business · Forbes · May 27, 2015
- Thai Lee · SHI International
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