JOHN TU

Chief Executive, Kingston Technology Corp.

THE LATEST: Tu guided Kingston Technology Corp., the world’s largest maker of computer memory and storage products, through multiple product releases over the past year. The launches included new solid-state drives and encrypted USB drives.

BACKGROUND: Tu co-founded Kingston Technology with Sun in 1987 with just one product. Today, the company employs 3,000 people worldwide and holds more than 60% share of the DRAM memory market. Tu and Kingston co-founder David Sun previously co-founded Camintonn Corp., a computer hardware company, which they sold to AST Research Inc. A native of China, Tu attended university in Germany where he studied electrical engineering. He moved to the United States in 1972.

WORTH NOTING: Tu and his wife, Mary, engage in philanthropic giving through the John and Mary Tu Foundation. With an estimated net worth of $7.9 billion, Tu was No. 5 on the Business Journal’s 2018 list of Wealthiest Angelenos.

YEAR ON THE LA500: 4

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