1. James J Kim, Amkor Technology Inc
Born in 1936 in Korea. Came to the U.S. in 1955 as
an undergrad economics major at the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. Taught six years
as an assistant professor at Villanova before founding Amkor Technology,
an independent maufacturer of chips for the
likes of TI, Motorola, and Toshiba. In May of 1998 Amkor became a
NASDAQ public company with an IPO that raised about
$450 million for 37% of its shares. Amkor's current market
cap is $1.2 billion of which James Kim and his
family own over 60%.
2. Steve Kim, Xylan Corporation
Born in Seoul in 1952. Immigrated in 1976. A nightschool
electrical engineering degree from Cal State Northridge landed
him a job at Burroughs, then Litton Data Systems.
His third job at a small fiber-optics modem company inspired Kim to
strike out and start his own garage-based company
to make networking products. In 1993, Kim started Xylan to make
power-packed, versatile next-generation switches
to handle hi-speed data routing for local-area-networks. Xylan's
1996
IPO was the most successful since Netscape's.
The opening price of $26 on 4.2 million offered shares quickly jumped
to
a high of $75. Among those who snapped up
shares was Alcatel, France's leading telecommunications company which
today owns 6% of Xylan and looks to be considering
a buyout. That could produce a nice payday for Kim. As of February
1999 Xylan's market cap had soared to $1.2 billion,
pricing his majority stake at around two-thirds of a billion.
UPDATE
In March 1999, Alcatel, the
French telecom giant, acquired Xylan for approximately $2 billion
and Steve Kim formed in
August 1999 the Alcatel
Ventures, a venture capital firm primarily focused on inesting in early
state technology companies.
The firm is headquartered
in Los Angeles.
3. Chong Moon Lee, Diamond Multimedia
Founder and Chairman of Diamond Multimedia, the number
one ranking manufacturer in both market share and revenues
of graphics and accelerator cards for personal computer
systems. Chong Moon Lee is a native of Seoul, Korea. Prior to
founding Diamond Multimedia, Mr. Lee served as an
executive in the pharmaceuticals industry, was a university professor,
was an officer and board member of Korean UNESCO,
Olympic Committee, and was President of the Cycling
Federation. Mr. Lee currently serves as a
Commissioner of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, an annex of which
is
named the Chong Moon Lee Center, established with
a founding donation of $15 million from Lee. Mr. Lee holds an MBA
equivalent from Korea University, and an MS in Library
Science and Data Management from George Peabody College at
Vanderbilt University.
UPDATE
Chong Moon Lee is currently
the founder and CEO emeritus of Diamond Industries. Since 1996,
Mr. Lee is the founder
and CEO of the Ambex Venture
Group that is focused on Internet, Networking, and Multimedia
Technology investment.
4. Yong K. Kim, User Technology Associates
Since founding User Technology Associates® (UTA)
in 1985, Yong K. Kim has established a group of companies
dedicated to closing the gap between the user and
technology. By focusing exclusively on the needs of the technology
user, UTA has grown to become one of the most successful
privately owned companies in the United States.
5. Jeong H. Kim, Yurie systems, Lucent Technologies
Kim joined Lucent Technologies in May 1998 when Lucent
acquired Yurie Systems, Inc. In 1992, Kim founded Yurie
Systems, a high- tech communications equipment company,
and served as Chairman and CEO while leading it to industry
and Wall Street distinction. His early career encompassed
computer design, satellite systems design, and data
communications, and included seven years as a
Nuclear Submarine Officer in the U.S. Navy. He holds a Ph.D. in
Reliability Engineering from the University of Maryland,
a Master's Degree in Technical Management and Bachelor's
degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science all from Johns Hopkins.