Noel Lee

Noel Lee (born December 25, 1948) is an American engineer, inventor, and businessman. He is the founder and CEO of Monster Inc.

Lee graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and subsequently did work in laser fusion for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He quit his engineering job in 1974 to play drums for a country rock band. After the band separated, he founded Monster Cable Products in 1979, based on loudspeaker cables he invented and manufactured in his garage.

Lee's audio cables met corporate resistance at first, because most audio cabling at the time was zip cord provided by audio vendors for free. Sales improved as retailers witnessed audio demonstrations and saw that his Monster-branded cables offered better profit margins than other electronics products. Lee is credited with building the Monster business and shaping today's audio components market.

Early life Noel Lee was born in San Francisco, California on December 25, 1948 According to Lee, his high school experiences were "rough" due to the level of discrimination against Asian-Americans at the time. He was awarded the Plus X Lifetime Achievement Award for his role in shaping a market and was named Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. The company he founded became a household name At first he worked out of his family's apartment and later in his in-laws' garage, Lee experimented with different widths, winding methods, and qualities of copper and insulation in audio cables He compared different wire constructs, while listening to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Lee received a positive response at the event According to Lee, he started the company without business experience or a strategy. The sponsorship was partially contentious due to a recent layoff of 120 local employees. and developed the M-Design product line of high-tech furniture. Lee has a degenerative nerve disorder that prevents him from walking without a wheelchair or Segway, which he says was caused by exposure to toxic doses of radiation when he worked as a fusion engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Lee enjoys collecting gadgets and has a collection of old sports cars. He enjoys socialising with musicians and counts Carlos Santana and George Benson among his friends. He is a member of the Asian Business League of San Francisco. He donated $75,000 worth of audio cables to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Lee describes his business ethic as "24/7; sleep when you're dead." He lives in Hillsborough, California. Lee is also known for throwing large parties at the Consumer Electronics Show and spending time with celebrities at the event.