Ken Lee (Chinese: 李光裕, Pinyin: lǐ guāng yù, 1 May 1932 – 21 December 2007) was a Chinese-Australian businessman who co-founded the

Bing Lee Bing Lee is an Australian retailing company, a chain of superstores specialising in consumer electronics, computer and telecommunication goods. Bing Lee is the largest privately held electrical retail business in New South Wales with 41 stor ...

chain of electronic stores with his father, Bing Lee. He also served as the company's chairman from 1987 until 2007.

Early life

Ken Lee was born in Yantai, Shandong, a poor rural area in China. In 1938, when Ken Lee was just seven, his father Bing left Yantai, putting him in charge of the family while he sailed to Australia seeking his fortune. When the Japanese invaded China there was widespread famine, and Ken was selling second-hand clothes and other goods on the streets to help feed his mother and sister. Once the war was over it took them three years to make their way to Sydney in 1948 and reunite with Bing. Ken and his father, Bing Lee, opened their first

store in

Fairfield, New South Wales Fairfield is a Greater Western Sydney, western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Being in the centre of the Cumberland Plain, Fairfield is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrati ...

in 1957 as an electrical sales and repair store. Lee's first job at Bing Lee was as a

repairman The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential install ...

and salesman. He and his father built the Bing Lee chain from its first store into a multimillion-dollar retail business. Bing Lee died in 1987, leaving his son, Ken Lee as sole owner and Ken remained Chairman of the Bing Lee company. By 1987, Bing Lee had expanded to 11 stores. There are now over 35 stores located throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, as of 2007. The company now has over 700 employees. According to news reports, Ken Lee knew nearly all of his 700 employees by name.

Personal life

Lee had a number of personal interests and hobbies. He was an avid golfer,

snooker Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...

player, fisher and boater.

Family

Lee was married to his wife, Yenda Lee, for 48 years, until his death. The couple had two sons, Lionel and Greg.

Death

Ken Lee died on 21 December 2007, at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, aged 75, from cancer. He was survived by his wife, sons and six grandchildren. His elder son, Lionel Lee, succeeded as head of the company.

References

External links

Bing Lee WebsiteBing Lee Women's NSW Open & Ken Lee Trophy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ken 1932 births 2007 deaths Australian people of Chinese descent Deaths from cancer in New South Wales Businesspeople from Sydney