THE MONEY: Largest local consumer electronics maker, and among OC’s largest private companies by sales. Maker of flash memory products found in USB drives and memory cards and solid-state drives (SSDs) used in laptops and embedded flash storage found in mobile devices. Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology has posted upward of $14B in sales annually of late. In addition to its own business, it makes memory products on behalf of PC manufacturers. Marks 40 years in business in 2027.
THE NUMBERS: Sold 80% of Kingston to Japanese telecom giant SoftBank Corp. for $1.5B in 1996 and generously shared proceeds with employees. The founders bought the company back in 1999 for $450M.
HP SALE: In 2021, sold off its HyperX business unit to Palo Alto’s HP Inc. for $425M. Retained ability to make memory products used by gamers, such as flash memory, dynamic random access memory and solid-state drive gaming products under the Kingston name. Kicked off a new line, dubbed “Fury,” for the new slate of offerings.
THE VALUATION: The Business Journal analyzed Kingston’s publicly traded competitors, who have price-to-sales ratios ranging from 0.8 times to 3.9 times sales. We estimated Kingston’s 2024 sales at $14B. If we use a conservative 1.5 times sales, that puts Kingston’s valuation at $21B, or $10.5B for each owner. We assume they each have other assets, so we bumped them up 20% this year to $11.3B worth each.
BIG BREAK: David Sun and John Tu co-founded memory products maker Camintonn in the 1980s and sold it to former Irvine computer maker AST Research Inc. They left AST to start Kingston after losing millions in Camintonn proceeds in the 1987 stock market crash.
OTHER INTERESTS: Tu has provided more than $50M in funding for upstart medical diagnostic company Fluxergy, an Irvine-based firm working to build a better, faster diagnostic test for COVID-19 and other diseases. Sun and wife Diana through their Sun Family Foundation in 2022 announced a $50M gift to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian to help with the expansion of its campus in Irvine, where the couple has lived since the 1980s. In January, the couple donated a second $50M gift for what will be named the Sun Family Campus. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in July 2026.
THE BEAT: Company named after The Kingston Trio, one of Tu’s favorite bands. He heads up a local band, JT and California Dreamin’ where he plays drums.
