While the public market awaits the return of Irvine-based Ingram Micro—which has been toying with the idea of an IPO for over a year—the technology distribution giant is wrapping up the year in part by focusing on its philanthropic efforts.
Ingram Micro, one of the world’s largest wholesale distributors of technology products, had $50.8 billion in 2022 net sales, making it the largest private company based in OC by revenue by a wide margin.
The company is working with a half-dozen organizations “that are
focused on delivering smiles during the holidays,” including Meals on Wheels, the Thomas House Family Shelter Toy Drive and Festival of Children, according to Executive Vice President Scott Sherman.
“We’re just doing what we should be doing as a good corporate citizen here in Orange County,” according to Sherman, who heads human resources for Ingram Micro.
He notes the company—which employs nearly 850 in Orange County—follows the staff’s lead when it comes to determining causes. The list is long, and includes the United Way, Red Cross, the American Heart Association, Girls Inc. OC and social responsibility promoter OneOC.
“It’s not about simply writing a check,” Sherman told the Business Journal. “It’s about supporting an organization, getting involved, working with them and sometimes also writing a check.
“We really follow the lead of our employees, of our associates.”
Flourishing Business
Ingram Micro’s 2023 donations include $1,500 for the holiday event of Hands Together, a child development nonprofit in Santa Ana, as well as $20,000 for Red Cross disaster relief efforts.
Ingram Micro says it is “deeply committed to helping the Orange County community in which we live and work.”
“We are proud to support this commitment in a variety of ways—from our Corporate Giving Campaign to our Matching Gift Program and disaster relief support, we are passionate about giving back,” the company said. “We recognize that when our communities flourish, so does our business.”
Business, People
“We get a return on investment of what we invest in our community,” Sherman adds.
“The Ingram family that founded us was very community-minded. We’re happy to continue what they started decades ago.”
Sherman said the company highlights the “the good work done by our associates,” but doesn’t take a lot of victory laps for the company.
“We make mention of what we’re doing in the community, and we tell folks how they can get more involved and we hope they do,” Sherman says. He said that’s happening in many of the more than 60 countries where the company has operations around the world.
Ingram Micro recruits at local universities, and also works with the CEO Leadership Alliance Orange County to boost the area’s economic growth and prosperity.
Public Listing
The company has said it intends to return to a public listing though no date has been released.
About 15 months ago, Ingram Micro posted a two-paragraph statement saying it had filed a “confidential submission” with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a potential IPO.
Ingram Micro was previously a public company—it raised some $300 million in a 1996 IPO—but went private in late 2016 when it was acquired by China’s HNA Group for $6 billion. Ownership moved back to American hands in July 2021, when Tom Gores’ investment firm Platinum Equity of Los Angeles paid $7.2 billion for the company.
