Lee Hysan

Lee Hysan (Chinese: 利希慎; pinyin: Lì Xīshèn; Jyutping: Lei⁶ Hei¹-San⁶; 1879 - April 30, 1928) was a businessman in opium trade and refinery, as well as land development in Hong Kong in the early 1900s. He was nicknamed the "King of Opium" in Hong Kong and Macau.

The ancestral home of the Lee family was Xinhui, Guangdong, and his father, Lee Leung Yik (利良奕) was heavily involved in the opium business in Hong Kong and China. Lee Hysan was born in China and as a young boy lived in San Francisco when his father moved there. At age seventeen, he returned to Hong Kong and continued his studies at Queen's College. Because he spoke English fluently, he later taught English at Queen's College, his alma mater.

His father achieved great wealth from the opium trade, and Hysan inherited his business. Having amassed a great fortune from his successful opium business, Lee later participated in the fast-growing Hong Kong real estate market. In 1923, he bought the Jardine's Hill property, west of Causeway Bay from Jardines for HK$3.8 million. He initially wanted to build opium refinery facilities there, but owing to the global anti-opium movement, he changed his plan and developed the property as Lee Garden. It is approximately the area around Lee Garden Road, Lee Theatre, Yun Ping Road and Percival Street.

On 30 April 1928, Lee was shot on a street in the Central district and died shortly after yelling for help. The assassination was possibly due to a growing public resentment of his opium business, which people believed had caused great harm to the Chinese society. The assassin has never been caught despite his family offering a huge bounty. At the time of his death, his estate was valued at HK$4.4 million; the present-day Hysan Development Company has a market capitalization in excess of HK$20 billion.

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