John Tu is the co-founder of Kingston Technology, the world’s largest independent producer of computer memory products.
Early Life and Career
John Tu was born in China, but he spent most of his early life in Taiwan. John Tu immigrated to Germany later on and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering in the year 1970.
John Tu moved to California after finishing his studies, where he met David Sun. The duo co-founded a company called Camintonn in 1980. Tu and Sun ran the entire operation from their garage. Six years down the line, in 1986, Tu and Sun sold their company for $6 Million. In 1987, the duo again co-founded another company called Kingston Technology. This company was born keeping in mind the shortage of memory chips in the high-tech marketplace. This company left a new mark in history and the revolutionary company has set a new trend in the market.
Tu’s creation, Kingston, grew so large that Softbank showed interest and acquired 80% of Kingston for $1.5 Billion in 1996. In the year,1998 Tu’s Company Kingston was given the 2nd Spot in Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in the United States”. Again in 1999, Tu achieved another milestone by buying back 80% of Kingston which was acquired by Softbank three years back.
Family
John Tu is a happy married man with two children. He plays drums for the famous band JT and California Dreamin’.
Philosophy
John Tu has got quite a polished philosophy of his own. It has been proven from the fact that he gives his employees the most credit for his immense wealth. John Tu has another matured quality and that is to appreciate his employees. John’s level of appreciation is always satisfactory for the employees as they receive quite a big amount of bonus along with their hefty salaries. The most important thing in which John believes is to rise again even after a fall. When the American market got completely crashed, John didn’t lose hope and his optimistic views have made him build up Kingston.
Social Work
Tu is a big benefactor in the freedom writers program which was under the freedom writers, Foundation. The aim of the organization was to improve the academic outlook of the students in under-served communities by creating a challenging curriculum. This particular foundation also awards scholarships to first generation high-school graduates. Not only education but it also serves as a platform for the students to keep them away from various bad habits like drugs and violence. John Tu’s involvement in this particular program has been an immense contribution towards the society. Along with this, Tu is also involved with an initiative in which Brazilian street kids learn to play drums. John is also well known for his immense contribution of a huge amount to the University of California, Irvine. Recently the John Tu and Mary Tu Foundation gave $500,000 to Chapman University and other sums to various arts and education outfits, especially in southern California.