[1][2][3][4][5] After graduating from Sauder, Lee opened a real estate business and began to build an extensive network that included Tong Louie, the founder of the retail store chain London Drugs and philanthropist David Lam, later B.C.
[2] Lee's breakthrough into real estate came in the 1960s, when there was widespread fear of a Communist China takeover of the British colony of Hong Kong.
A mass exodus of Hong Kong Chinese immigrants made their way to Vancouver and many of these newcomers were advised to visit Lee because he could speak their language.
He received the Order of British Columbia and was named Businessman of the Year in 1990, selected by a panel of Chinese-Canadian businessmen and the Vancouver Board of Trade.
[3] He also was a black member of YMCA Vancouver and served as a director of Crown Life Insurance, Canadian National Railway and Wall Financial Corporation.
[1] In addition, Lee was a Governor and later (1993-96) Chancellor of the University of British Columbia, and was responsible for generating $1.7 billion for the school's endowment as a founding member of the UBC Properties Fund.