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Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 467 Thomas Pritzker|# 469 Wu Yajun ➡

# 468 Min Kao 

$6.30B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$84.9M (1.35%)

# 468 Min Kao 

$6.30B

Real Time Net Worth
as of 7/25/2024
$84.9M (1.35%)
OccupationCofounder and Chair, Garmin
Source of WealthNavigation Equipment
Age75
ResidenceLeawood, Kansas
Marital StatusMarried
Children2
EducationBS, National Taiwan University; Doctorate, University of Tennessee Knoxville; MS, University of Tennessee Knoxville
Age-Adjusted Net Worth$2.28B
Min Kao
Min Kao
United States
Net worth: $6.30B

Self-Made Score 

Wealth History

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Biography

Overview

Min H. Kao, a Taiwanese-American electrical engineer and billionaire businessman, is renowned as the co-founder of Garmin, a leading GPS technology company.
Kao's journey to wealth began in 1989 when he co-founded Garmin with Gary Burrell, revolutionizing GPS navigation devices.
His leadership in developing compact GPS navigation devices led to his election as a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2011.

Early Life

Min H. Kao was born in 1949 in Zhushan, Nantou, Taiwan.
He earned his undergraduate degree from National Taiwan University.
In 1977, Kao completed his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee.

Career

Kao conducted research for NASA and the U.S. Army before working for various companies such as Teledyne Systems, Magnavox Advanced Products, and King Radio Corporation.
He played a pivotal role in developing the first GPS navigator at AlliedSignal before co-founding Garmin with Gary Burrell in 1989.
Despite stepping down as CEO in 2012, Kao remains the executive chairman and a board member of Garmin.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Kao donated $17.5 million to the College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, with a significant portion earmarked for a new facility.
He furthered his philanthropic efforts by contributing $1 million each to the University of Kansas College of Engineering and Kansas State University College of Engineering for the construction of labs.
Kao's contributions have had a lasting impact on educational institutions, fostering innovation and development in engineering.

Personal Life

Min H. Kao is married to Fan Kao and they have two children: Ken Kao, a film producer, and Jen Kao, a fashion designer.
The Kao family resides in Leawood, Kansas, although Min Kao spends much of his time in Manhattan, where he owns an apartment.
His personal and family life reflects a diverse range of interests and pursuits, spanning from technology to entertainment and fashion.

Garmin and Business Ventures

Garmin, co-founded by Min Kao and Gary Burrell in 1989, specializes in GPS technology for automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sports activities.
Under Kao's leadership, Garmin has grown into a multinational technology company with headquarters in Olathe, Kansas, and legal incorporation in Switzerland since 2010.
The company's innovative products, including wearable technology, have positioned it as a key player in the consumer electronics market.

How long would it take you to become as rich as Min Kao?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 44.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach Min Kao's net worth of $6.30B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 52.22% compared to 16.62% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

Enter data in all but one field below, then calculate the missing value

Min Kao is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For Min Kao, Navigation Equipment is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

Source: Grizzly Bulls reporting

Methodology: Grizzly Bulls' Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world's billionaires and richest people. Grizzly Bulls strives to provide the most accurate net worth calculations available. We pull data from public equity markets, SEC filings, public real estate records, and other reputable sources.

The index is dynamic and updates daily at the close of U.S. stock market trading based on changes in the markets, economy, and updates to Grizzly Bulls' proprietary algorithm of personal wealth calculation. Stakes in public companies are tracked daily based on the relevant closing prices of the underlying securities. Additionally, stakes in private companies, cash, real estate, and other less easily valued assets are updated periodically through careful analysis of insider transactions, comparable public company sales / EBITDA multiples, etc.

Edited by: Lee Bailey