Defense company Anduril Industries more than doubled its revenue in just a year, the fastest surge among Orange County’s private companies.
For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Anduril showed revenue of $2.2 billion, up from $1 billion in 2024.
“On our most mature products, we’re making about a 40% profit margin despite selling for a tenth of what our competition does,” Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey said during a discussion with the Hoover Institution on May 7. “We’re actually making more money, in terms of percentage and absolute dollars, off of something that is an order of magnitude cheaper.”
Anduril was No. 14 on the list of largest private companies by revenue. Anduril expects a jump to $4.3 billion this year, industry website The Information said in March.
Overall, the 35 companies surveyed by the Business Journal showed a 9% rise in revenue to $124.3 billion in 2025 compared to $114 billion in the previous year.
Giant Allied Universal Tops the Chart
Irvine-based Allied Universal, the world’s largest private security firm, with an eye-popping 800,000 employees globally, showed a 4.4% increase in revenue to $22.6 billion to keep its No. 1 slot.
“The biggest factors driving our increase in revenue this past year are new client contracts, incremental price increases as well as merger and acquisition activities,” Allied global chairman and CEO Steve Jones told the Business Journal on June 2.
Jones added: “We remain very focused on deploying tools utilizing artificial intelligence to digitize and automate core administrative functions at the branch level.”
Pacific Life Insurance Co., based in Newport Beach, was No. 2 on the list, with 2025 revenue increasing 20% to $18.8 billion.
“Growth was fueled by continued momentum across our core businesses, including strong life insurance and annuity sales, expansion in institutional solutions, and ongoing growth in global reinsurance,” CEO Darryl Button told the Business Journal.
Those factors, combined with a long-term focus on delivering value to policyholders, have driven both revenue growth and the continued expansion of our business lines, according to Button.
Kingston Technology, Salas O’Brien
Memory card maker Kingston Technology was in third place with an estimated $14 billion in revenue. The Fountain Valley-based company, founded by tycoons John Tu and David Sun, closely guards its financial information.
Salas O’Brien, the Irvine-based engineering firm, took the 26th spot as revenue jumped 19% to $894 million.
“We work in sectors with strong, sustained demand, including data centers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and advanced manufacturing,” chairman and Salas O’Brien CEO Darin Anderson told the Business Journal.
“In data centers especially, we’re supporting everything from colocation to hyperscale, helping clients move faster while addressing power reliability and water use.”
Irvine Co., Trace3
Among other noticeable 2025 revenue results:
• Mega-property owner and landlord Irvine Co. in Newport Beach had estimated revenue of $3.9 billion in 2025, up 5%.
• Irvine-based IT services and consulting firm Trace3 Inc. was up 17% to $2.8 billion.
• No. 16-ranked global IT firm UST in Aliso Viejo stayed flat at $2 billion.
• Aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group in Newport Beach grew nearly 5% to $1.3 billion in 2025 revenue.
• The last and 35th spot on the list went to Costa Mesa-based California Pizza Kitchen, where revenue fell 14% to $350 million, as consumers kept a close eye on their restaurant spending.
