Lee Man Tat

BBS BBS may refer to: Ammunition * BBs, BB gun metal bullets * BBs, airsoft gun plastic pellets Computing and gaming * Bulletin board system, a computer server users dial into via dial-up or telnet; precursor to the Internet * BIOS Boot Specificat ...

(1929 – 26 July 2021, ) was a Hong Kong billionaire and chairman of the family-owned Chinese sauce and condiment company

Lee Kum Kee Lee Kum Kee Company Limited () is a Hong Kong-based food company which specializes in manufacturing a wide range of Chinese and Asian sauces. Founded by Lee Kum Sheung in 1888 in Nanshui, Guangdong. Lee Kum Kee produces over 200 Chinese-style sau ...

Biography

Lee Man Tat was born in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

in 1930, the eldest son of Lee Siu-nam and his wife. He was the grandson of Lee Kum-sheung who invented

oyster sauce Oyster sauce describes a number of sauces made by cooking oysters. The most common in modern use is a viscous dark brown condiment made from oyster extracts,The Times, 22 January 1981; ''Cook Accidentally on purpose'' sugar, salt and water thick ...

and founded the

company in

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...

, China, in 1888. Lee left school when he was 15 and worked for the family business in China until 1949 when the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

was established, returning to Macau and moving into manufacturing. He joined

, now based in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and took over the running of the company from his father in 1972, when he bought out his uncles with the help of his father. He expanded the company’s presence in North America, serving the Chinese diaspora, particularly in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and the

east coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. In 1986, following a dispute over plans for the company, he bought his younger brother's 40% stake for HK$80 million. In 1992, Lee and his son, Sammy, diversified into health supplements forming LKK Health Products. In 1995 and 1996, Lee opened a manufacturing plant and a production base in China, which became the company’s largest market. According to '' Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', his wealth was estimated at US$17.9bn. The family invested in property and in July 2017, LKK Health Products purchased London's landmark Walkie-Talkie building for £1.3 billion. Lee married Choi May Ling in 1954 and had five children, all of whom joined the company, and lived in Hong Kong. He was awarded the

Silver Bauhinia Star The Silver Bauhinia Star (, SBS) is the second Bauhinia Star rank in the honours system of Hong Kong, awarded to people who have taken a leading part in public affairs or voluntary work over a long period. The award was created in 1997 to repla ...

in 2018. He died on 26 July 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Man Tat 1929 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Bronze Bauhinia Star Hong Kong billionaires Hong Kong businesspeople Macau emigrants to Hong Kong