Rank #520
Min Kao & family
Net worth $7.4B
Navigation equipment · United States
- Born
- Jan 10, 1949
- Age
- 77
- Source
- Navigation equipment
- Residence
- Leawood, Kansas
- Citizenship
- United States
- Marital status
- Married
- Children
- 2
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts/Science, National Taiwan University; Doctorate, University of Tennessee Knoxville; Master of Science, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Net worth over time
Biography
- Min Kao cofounded GPS maker Garmin with the late Gary Burrell in 1989, after the duo led development of the first GPS navigator at Allied Signal.
- Kao is executive chairman of the navigation firm, which has annual revenue of about $6 billion and makes everything from GPS for cars to weather radar for airplanes.
- Garmin has brought GPS navigation and wearable technology to the automotive, outdoor, fitness, aviation, and marine markets.
- Kao stepped down as CEO in 2012 but remains executive chairman and a member of the board.
- Kao came to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1970s and got a master's and a Ph.D. in engineering at the University of Tennessee.
- Garmin is a mix of the first names of cofounders Gary Burrell and Min Kao.
- While pursuing his Ph.D at the University of Tennessee, Kao worked as a researcher for NASA and the U.S. Army.
- Kao's son, Ken Kao, is a Hollywood producer who has backed films including "The Favourite" and "The Nice Guys."
Financial assets
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