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Thai Lee: The Quiet Billionaire Who Built America’s Largest Woman-Owned Business
She moved to the U.S. alone at age 12, taught herself English, and built a $14 billion empire. Meet the woman who rewrote the rules of tech — without making a sound.
Jenny Stojkovic
June 04, 2025
Before she became one of the richest self-made women in America, Thai Lee was a 12-year-old immigrant landing alone in Massachusetts with no English, no family, and no support system.
Today, she’s the longtime CEO of SHI International, a $14 billion global tech firm and the largest woman-owned business in the United States.
Her story isn’t just one of survival — it is one of quiet, methodical empire-building in an industry that rarely hands the keys to women, let alone immigrant women from Asia.
From South Korea to the Corporate World
Thai Lee was born in 1958 in Bangkok to Korean parents and raised primarily in South Korea. Her father, a successful entrepreneur, deeply believed in the power of education. He knew the only success would come with making a big move.
At just 12 years old, Thai was sent to the United States for school, alone.