Melissa Lee is the host of CNBC’s “Fast Money” (Monday-Thursday, 5PM-6PM ET; Friday, 5PM-5:30PM ET), which originates from the Nasdaq’s MarketSite studio in New York’s Times Square. “Fast Money” gives you the information normally reserved for the Wall Street trading floor, enabling you to make decisions that can make you money. She is also the host of “Options Action,” (Friday, 5:30PM ET), a weekly half-hour program that explains the advantages of options trading.
In addition, Lee is a member of the ensemble cast of CNBC’s “Power Lunch” (M-F, 2PM-3PM ET).
Previously, Lee was co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” and host of “Money in Motion Currency Trading.” She also covered investment banking, hedge funds and private equity for the network.
Lee has reported one-hour documentaries for the network, including “Rise of the Machines (2013),” “Code Wars: America’s Cyber Threat”(2011), ”Coca-Cola: The Real Story Behind the Real Thing” (2009) and ”Porn: Business of Pleasure” (2009). In 2008, Lee reported and anchored a one-hour documentary, “Made in China: People’s Republic of Profit,” from Beijing and Shanghai. She reported extensively for the network on China from the country’s growth to its challenges to the opportunities for U.S. businesses.
Lee received a 2010 Gracie Award for Outstanding Host-News and a Gerald Loeb Award nomination in 2009 for a CNBC Special Report: “Is Your Money Safe? The Fall of Lehman Brothers,” for which she co-anchored. Lee also has been nominated for two Emmy awards in Business News. In 2007, she was recognized for her report, “The $50M Con,” about a college student-turned scammer who ran a fake hedge fund and was ultimately caught by the FBI. And in 2003, she was nominated for her reporting on the proxy voting of mutual funds.
Prior to joining CNBC in 2004, Lee worked for Bloomberg Television and CNN Financial News.
Before her career in television, Lee was a consultant at Mercer Management Consulting. Her cases focused on the banking and credit card sectors.
Lee graduated with honors from Harvard College with a bachelor of arts in government. She also served as Assistant Managing Editor of the Harvard Crimson.
Follow Melissa Lee on Twitter @MelissaLeeCNBC.