Mr. Lee recently retired as Chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants, a position that he held for more than 10 years. He was part of the team that opened the first Red Lobster in Orlando in 1968 and became its manager. When Bill Darden sold his restaurant business to General Mills, Mr. Lee followed and eventually became president and CEO of Red Lobster. He used that same business model to introduce the Olive Garden casual dining Italian chain.

By 1995, when General Mills spun off its restaurant business, Mr. Lee insisted it be named Darden Restaurants for its founder and his mentor. Today, Orlando-based Darden (NYSE: DRI) is the largest publicly held casual dining restaurant company in the world. Darden employs 65,000 people, making it the 19th-largest employer in the United States. The company operates more than 1,430 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones and Seasons 52 restaurants with annual sales of $5.7 billion.