NZ's richest man Graeme Hart and family celebrated Cartier Lee’s (pictured) graduation in New York.
New Zealand’s wealthiest man Graeme Hart, wife Robyn and son Harry, were in New York last week to celebrate the graduation of Harry’s long-term partner, Australian heiress Cartier Lee.
Lee posted an Instagram story to her more than 70,000 followers, showing her walking outside Yankee Stadium in
Spy first reported Harry Hart and Lee’s romance in 2019. At the time, Lee was two years into studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
She graduated from Tisch in 2021, then maintained her studies at NYU, this time focusing on business. Her graduation last Friday marked her receiving an MBA in fashion and luxury from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
This will have made Lee’s mother, Keri Craig-Lee, especially proud. Dubbed by the Aussie press as Queensland’s Empress of Style, Craig-Lee is an award-winning former fashion designer and retailer, and in 1987 - aged 28 - was the first inductee into Australia’s National Retail Association Hall of Fame.
The Hart family’s estimated worth is $17 billion and Harry has found a good transtasman match in Lee – her father is Brisbane cattle baron Trevor Lee, who has an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion and in 2023 was 73 on Australia’s Financial Review Rich List.
Harry and Lee have been inseparable over the past five years, enjoying enviable European holidays on both of their family’s superyachts and trips on the Hart family private jet to favourite spots including Aspen, Colorado. Hart has spent time in Lee’s native Queensland, but the couple have been mainly based in New Zealand, enjoying time at the Hart family compounds in Glendowie, Waiheke and Queenstown.
Lee, 26, has worked as an actor, DJ and singer, represented by former American Idol judge Randy Jackson for her music and Magnolia Entertainment for her acting in the US, as well as Auckland Actors in New Zealand.
Last year saw Lee spend time in New York finishing her MBA at Stern, and in 2022, completed 150 hours of online study with Harvard Business School. Her focus is understood to currently include beauty brands, specialising in sustainability, marketing and business development. Her LinkedIn profile currently lists her as working for BIOWEG, a German bio-innovation company that was last year acknowledged at the prestigious LVMH Innovation Awards in Paris as one of the world’s top three sustainability startups.
Lee’s role with BIOWEG may complement that of 31-year-old Harry, who, along with his father, owns food business Walter & Wild, an FMCG company with beloved brands including Aunt Betty’s, F. Whitlock and Sons, Gregg’s, Hubbards, and more.
Lee has also worked for Hart family companies, including as brand ambassador for Robyn’s floral art business Bloom and Vivid, and for Graeme’s Rank Groups Fernbrook Holdings, who develop residential properties in low socio-economic areas.
At Fernbrook, Lee led the development of 30 real estate properties and is understood to be assisting the company with future rental and development projects.
While Lee politely declined to provide comment for this story, her public Instagram story post provided a glimpse into last Friday’s graduation, which marks the next chapter in her promising career. She wore a white Chanel-style suit to complement her black and purple robes, whilst Robyn wore a bright red dress and matching coat. Graeme and Harry were more casual in open-neck shirts and jackets.
The afternoon capping ceremony was held at The Theatre at Madison Square Gardens on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, one of the city’s premiere event venues.
Lee’s celebration party was sure to have been at one of Manhattan’s top fine dining spots.