In 1988, Lee became a retail-broker trainee on Wall Street at Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc., which later became Salomon Smith Barney.[3] Lee built relationships and established contacts in Korea and began to establish business with Korean banks.[3] Because of his early success, Lee went to work for Lehman Brothers in their Hong Kong office, where he became a "leading" bond salesman.[6] In Hong Kong, Lee worked as a fixed-income salesman covering Asian fixed-income institutional investors in Hong Kong and Korea. Lee began selling bonds to Korean banks and managed Lehman's fixed income trading relationship with the central bank of Korea and the Asian Development Bank.[7][8]
In 1994, "with a reputation for being at the cutting edge of financial developments in Asia,"[8] Lee left Lehman Brothers to head Peregrine's fixed-income business.[6] From 1994–1996, Peregrine's business increased six-fold under Lee's leadership.[9] In 1996, Lee's team accounted for one-third of Peregrine's operating profits.[9]
Peregrine went into liquidation in January 1998 as a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[10][11] and Lee returned to Korea to found 01 Inc., an internet-based company that provided internet-enabled financial trading and investment banking services for small businesses and financial institutions.[12][13] 01 Inc. was backed by Hyundai Development Company and Kolon.[13] 01 Inc.'s DealComposer.com, a website designed to guide companies through funding processes, including regulatory and due diligence, launched in August 2000.[13][14]
Lee later co-founded and served as managing director of Intellectual Ventures' Invention Development Fund, an approximately $590 million fund focused on generating invention and encouraging technology transfer that partnered with universities and individual inventors in Asia and North America.[1] He left the firm in 2011. Lee currently serves as CEO of Snowflake Innovations and Technology Reserve both based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Snowflake Innovations is a private holding company focused on designing and spinning out new business models and strategic platforms in financing intangible assets. Technology Reserve is a global exchange platform for sharing technology and know-how designed to accelerate innovation in small and medium-sized companies.[15]
