Thai Lee
Source of wealth: IT provider
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Thai Lee's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Thai Lee could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 3.6 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Thai Lee could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 1.6 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Thai Lee could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 2.3 years.
And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country
But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Thai Lee could pay for it entirely for 3.2 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Thai Lee could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 13.4 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Thai Lee with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.3 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Thai Lee's fortune is equivalent to 55 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.
A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.
Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.
Thai Lee could buy 14,555,917 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!
And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 3 trucks to transport them. Although Thai Lee will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Thai Lee is CEO of $15 billion (gross sales) IT provider SHI International, which has 15,000 customers, including Boeing and AT&T.
Born in Bangkok, Lee grew up in South Korea and moved to the U.S. for high school before heading to Amherst for college.
Her father, a prominent economist who traveled the world promoting his country's postwar development plan, was the first Korean to graduate from Amherst.
Lee, also an alum of Harvard Business School, did stints at Procter & Gamble and American Express.
Lee and her now ex-husband Leo KoGuan paid less than $1 million for a software reseller in 1989, the predecessor to SHI. Today she owns 60% while he owns 40%.
SHI recently invested $20 million in a newly opened AI & Cyber lab where it tests out AI solutions for customers using NVIDIA's technology.
Financial Assets
Financial assets information not available.
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison