Tony Koblinski’s career, which has included building cars, homes and outdoor sports equipment, now stretches into outer space.
In February, Koblinski took public Karman Holdings Inc., a missile component company built from four acquisitions bolted together. On its first day, the shares soared 37%, raising more than $500 million for the Huntington Beach firm in an upsized offering.
“We are just getting started,” Koblinski said after the IPO for the company that goes by the name Karman Space & Defense.
Koblinski wasn’t kidding. In the 11 months since the IPO priced at $22 each, the stock has soared almost fivefold to $106 and a market cap of $14 billion, or about 24 times its expected 2025 revenue (NYSE: KRMN).
Analysts projected that 2025 sales would grow 34% to $463 million, followed by a 25% increase this year to $578 million, which would triple its 2022 sales. In 2024, it reported its adjusted EBITDA margin widened to 31%, or $106.1 million, on sales of $345.3 million.
Koblinski has indicated Karman could be one of the dozens of companies that will benefit from President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome proposal, a space-based defense system designed to protect the U.S. against incoming hostile missiles.
For all these reasons, Koblinski is the Business Journal’s Businessperson of the Year for 2025 in the technology category.
Koblinski credits his success to “building great teams.”
“That’s what we’ve done at Karman—brought together exceptional people who care about our mission and each other. Whatever success I’ve had is really their success. I’ve just been fortunate enough to be part of it.”
Karman also is moving into underwater systems in addition to airborne and outer space products.
The Surf City firm said Jan. 7 that it plans to pay $220 million for a pair of companies that will help it expand into submarine and maritime defense technologies. They include sonar, underwater propulsion and “missile and amphibious strategic launch products.”
Karman’s shares rose 11% the following day.
The Equity Deals that Thrive
Koblinski, who earned a business degree from Central Michigan University in 1982 and an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1985, rose to become a plant manager at the now-defunct Saturn Corp., which was General Motors’ doomed attempt to compete directly with Japanese automakers.
His resume also includes vice president stints at outdoor sporting equipment supplier Bombardier Recreational Products and Pulte Homes, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders.
From 2011 to 2020, Koblinski served as CEO of Madison-Kipp Corp., a maker of lightweight, high-pressure aluminum die-cast components.
It was there that he met Thrive Capital, a Dallas-based equity firm that manages over $8 billion of assets and invests in both equity and debt; its webpage lists more than 50 portfolio companies.
Koblinski helped Thrive buy Madison-Kipp and it clearly left a good impression because a year later, Thrive tapped Koblinski to lead the newly formed Karman.
The company was formed in late 2020 with the combination of Amro Fabricating Corp. and Aerospace Engineering Corp. Karman then acquired AAE Aerospace, a leader in high-temperature composites, and Systima Technologies, adding expertise in energetic and mechanical systems integration for space and hypersonics.
Follow up acquisitions have included Metal Technology Inc., Five Axis Industries Inc. and Industrial Solid Propulsion.
Karman specializes in the design, testing, manufacturing and sale of mission-critical systems for existing and emerging missiles and defense, and space programs. It has three key families: Payload Protection and Deployment Systems, Aerodynamic Interstage Systems and Propulsion Systems.
Its customers, none of whom account for more than 10% of its revenue, include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and NASA.
The company currently has eight analysts, all of which have buy or overweight ratings.
“Demand signals from the Pentagon and from our customers continue to indicate significant multi-year growth opportunities,” Koblinski said on a November conference call to discuss third-quarter results.
He added that “we now support more than 80 customers on more than 130 programs.”
Today, Karman operates approximately 730,000 square feet of design, engineering and manufacturing space spread throughout the Western U.S., including 125,000 square feet in Huntington Beach and another 85,000 square feet in Brea and 22,000 square feet in Santa Ana. Its largest facility, at 175,000 square feet, is located in South El Monte; it also has a 75,000 square foot facility in Corona.
It employed 1,100 people, including 180 engineers, as of early last year.
Financial tracking and investor website GuruFocus estimated Koblinski’s net worth at least $193 million as of early January, based on an analysis of his Karman holdings.
Thriving OC Industry
Karman is part of a thriving aerospace and defense industry in Orange County.
They include upstarts Anduril Industries in Costa Mesa and Dzyne Technologies in Irvine as well as long-established companies such as Ducommun in Santa Ana, Parker Aerospace in Irvine and Boeing with its local base in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach.
In November 2024 Karman announced a collaboration with Anduril to develop, test and deliver the rocket motor casing for ultra-fast “hypersonic” missiles.
Karman said it was a “key supplier” of hardware for the Vulcan rocket developed by a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
Karman’s CEO Shares Leadership Tips
The Business Journal asked Karman Space & Defense leader Tony Koblinski what he attributes his success to, especially as his company has been growing by leaps and bounds. Here are his answers:
“I’d point to a few things that have shaped how I lead.
“Humility, for one. The best leaders know they don’t have all the answers. My job has been to create space where the right answers can come from the people around me.
“I’ve also always believed that everyone has something valuable to contribute—I just need to find it. When you look for the unique strengths each person brings and put them in position to use those strengths, great things happen.
“A sense of humor helps too. Business is serious work, but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh along the way. Humor builds connections, eases tension and keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously.
“But really, it comes down to building great teams. That’s what we’ve done at Karman—brought together exceptional people who care about our mission and each other. Whatever success I’ve had is really their success. I’ve just been fortunate enough to be part of it.”
Karman Name Rings a Bell Locally in OC
The name Karman Space & Defense, which presumably takes its name from a famous Hungarian-born physicist and aerospace engineer, may well ring a bell with local readers.
Von Karman is the name of a major thoroughfare in Irvine.
Internationally speaking, the von Karman line is the theoretical boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space and is generally set at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level.
It’s named after the late scientist and aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán, who co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
