Singapore: CapitaLand has named former Ascott CEO Lee Chee Koon as president and group chief executive officer.
Lee has been promoted from group chief investment officer of south-east Asia’s largest real estate developer, and was CEO of The Ascott Limited until earlier this year when he was succeeded by Kevin Goh.
He takes the helm at CapitaLand on 15 September, months sooner than the timeline laid out when the company announced the retirement of its current president and group CEO, Lim Ming Yan, on June 1st.
“Ming Yan has built a strong foundation for expansion. I will build upon it to bring CapitaLand forward and to achieve greater returns to shareholders,” Lee said in the announcement.
Ng Kee Choe, chairman of CapitaLand, said in a company statement: “The board has continually worked with the management team on succession planning and deepening of bench strength to build a robust talent pipeline. After a very thorough and systematic review process, the board is pleased to put in place leaders with the best fit and capability to chart CapitaLand’s next phase of growth. Led by Chee Koon, the team’s combined competencies and experiences will benefit CapitaLand greatly.”
Lee is credited with substantially improving Ascott’s profits, and overseeing the management of the company as it grew to operate more than 70,000 apartment units in more than 120 cities worldwide.
Lee joined Ascott in 2009 after working as a vice president in the office of the president when he joined the developer in 2007. He was made GCIO in 2017 in a major c-level shakeup that was undertaken to prepare the company for disruptive business models and sector transformation. Before working at the group, he was employed by the Government of Singapore, in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Finance and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The 1999 graduate of National University of Singapore was awarded the National Order of Merit by the President of the French Republic in 2016 and the Business China Young Achiever Award by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2016. In addition to his degree in mechanical engineering from NUS, Lee received a masters degree from Imperial College London.
