Irene Lee

The executive chairman of Hysan Development, one of Hong Kong’s best-known property companies, Irene Lee worked as an investment banker in Australia for over 30 years before returning to Hong Kong in 2011 to take over the reins of the family business the following year. She is the granddaughter of Lee Hysan, who was largely responsible for creating the modern Causeway Bay, levelling a hill in the area in the 1920s and building the area’s first leisure facilities. Hysan’s current portfolio is still based around Causeway Bay’s Lee Gardens.

Lee has steered the group’s asset rejuvenation programme through its multi-year “harvest phase”. Her leadership is highlighted by the late-2026 completion of Lee Garden Eight, a landmark project expanding the firm’s prime Causeway Bay commercial portfolio by approximately 30 per cent.

Earlier in her career, Lee held senior leadership posts including executive director of Citicorp in New York, London and Sydney, head of corporate finance at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and chief executive officer of Sealcorp Holdings. Beyond past board seats at Keybridge Capital, ING Bank, CLP Holdings, Cathay Pacific and Noble Group—as well as regulatory advisory roles with the Australian Government Takeovers Panel, the HKMA’s Exchange Fund Advisory Committee and the HSBC group through May 2025—she also serves as an independent director of Alibaba Group.

(Photo: Edmond So for South China Morning Post via Getty Images)