WILLIAM W. WANG
Founder, Chief Executive
Vizio Inc.
Irvine
Born in Taipei, Taiwan
Age: 55
Lives in Newport Beach
WHY: TV titan battles Samsung for top U.S. market share, leader in 4K ultra-HD TVs. Top sound bar seller. Among top private OC-based companies. Moved Vizio into national spotlight with big endorsement deals, sports sponsorships. Expanded offerings into speakers, sound bars, tablets, home theater systems. Employs about 450, 200 of them at Spectrum headquarters.
HOW: Started Vizio in 2002. Designs, markets TVs, other electronics. Sets made in China, Taiwan, Mexico by Taiwan-based Vizio investor AmTran Technology, others. Forged close partnerships with retailers, suppliers, original design manufacturers. Used similar model in 1990s at prior companies—monitor sellers Mag InnoVision, Princeton Digital. Both took off early, ended poorly. Started Mag InnoVision at 26 with $350,000 from family, friends, Asian investor. Taiwan-based monitors maker Mag Technology bought it in 1998.
RECENT: Vizio data unit Inscape, acquired in 2015, is the technology behind new consortium of media companies looking to provide TV viewers with targeted ads. Called Project OAR.
FAST FACT: Among survivors of 2000 Singapore Airlines crash that killed about half of passengers.
QUOTABLE: “The most important goal of this initiative is to drastically enhance the TV experience for people at home,” speaking of Inscape-units involvement in Project OAR.
PERSONAL: Board member at Segerstrom Center for the Arts; Viterbi School of Engineering Board of Councilors, President’s Leadership Council at alma mater University of Southern California, where earned bachelor’s in electrical engineering; Committee of 100 group of distinguished Chinese-Americans. Likes golf, other sports, reading, movies and of course TV. Moved to Hawaii at 12, California at 14. Big on design, innovation, user-friendliness. Wife, Sakura; daughter.
