Biography
John Tu is among the world's most closely watched billionaires from UNITED STATES, with an estimated fortune of $25.2B. The bulk of John Tu's wealth comes from Computer hardware, closely tied to Computer hardware. John Tu, a US citizen, is an 84-year-old Taiwanese-American billionaire and philanthropist, celebrated as the co-founder of Kingston Technology. His wealth source is computer hardware. Tu's journey began with an electrical engineering degree from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1971, which led to a successful career in the tech industry, including the founding of Camintonn Corporation in 1982, and subsequently Kingston Technology in 1987 with his business partner David Sun. His career reflects a move from engineer to tech titan. Tu's achievements include building Kingston into the world's largest independent manufacturer of computer memory products. With a net worth of $17.4 billion, Tu continues to work from his cubicle in the company and maintains a low profile, emphasizing an employee-focused culture. Key career milestones include Graduated with a degree in electrical engineering (1970); Co-founded Camintonn Corporation (1982); Sold Camintonn Corporation (1986); Co-founded Kingston Technology (1987). This profile documents verified holdings, career milestones, and multi-year net worth history drawn from Forbes rankings, company filings where available, and our editorial methodology. Readers use it to understand how public markets, private company stakes, and major business bets shape one of the largest personal fortunes on record. Wealth estimates move with stock prices, funding rounds, and disclosed transactions—figures on this page are research estimates, not cash balances. We publish year-by-year net worth history when verified data exists, link to primary sources, and update profiles when Forbes Real-Time Billionaires or major filings change the picture materially. For investors and researchers, the most useful reading pairs the headline number with ownership structure, geography, sector exposure, and the multi-year history chart on this page—especially during volatile markets when single-day moves can shift rankings without any operational change at the underlying companies.