Kao is co-founder and chairman of Garmin, a maker of smartwatches and other navigation trackers. The Schaffhausen, Switzerland-based company is publicly traded in the US and reported revenue of $6.3 billion in 2024. Garmin builds devices for use in sports as well as the aviation, marine and automotive sectors.
Kao's fortune is derived from his stake in Garmin, a developer of navigation, communications, and information devices.
He owns about 9.5% of the company's shares through his children and the M&F Trust, according to its October 2025 filing. Shares held by family members are attributed to Kao in this analysis to reflect his status as co-founder and chairman.
Cash holdings are based on an analysis of insider transactions, dividends, taxes and market performance.
Carly Hysell, a spokesperson for Garmin, didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
Kao was born in Taiwan and served in the navy before coming to the US to study.
After obtaining engineering degrees from the University of Tennessee, Kao worked as a systems analyst at Teledyne Systems, an advanced technology company.
Prior to co-founding Garmin, he was involved in the development of global positioning system (GPS) technology that led to improvements in navigation through the use of satellites.
Kao and fellow engineer Gary Burrell founded Garmin in 1989. The company became publicly traded in 2000 and by 2023 it was reporting revenue in excess of $5 billion.