Kingston, a brand name that is all too familiar to those who have used USB flash drives. If you're not acquainted with it, perhaps it's because you're more familiar with its English name – Kingston. According to a report by TrendForce, Kingston was ranked as the top third-party solid-state drive (SSD) supplier for the entire year of 2023, capturing a market share of 34%, far outpacing its competitors. In the memory sector, it stands alone at the top.
However, you might not know that this company was founded by two Chinese individuals, who once invested 800 million yuan to purchase homes for their employees and continued to pay salaries during maternity leave. Kingston can be considered a company with exceptional benefits. Although it's not the largest in scale, it employs over 4,500 people. The company does not have a punch-in system, no performance evaluations, and the concept of KPI is unheard of. In short, employees can arrange their work as they see fit, as long as they complete their tasks. Here, one person's employment ensures healthcare for the entire family. Even new employees can immediately receive six months of paid leave if someone in their family falls ill, and the same benefits apply to pregnant employees.
Such a "three-no" enterprise (no organization, no discipline, no principles) seems unlikely to be favored. Indeed, during the early stages of the company's development, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times came for an interview, left with a shake of the head, and predicted in the newspaper, "You can manage like this now, but it won't work when you reach $200 million."
The two company leaders were not convinced and invited the reporter back when the company reached $200 million. The reporter found that the management was still as relaxed as before and issued another warning, suggesting that the company would collapse when it reached $1 billion. "Now our annual revenue has exceeded $6.5 billion, and our management style remains the same," the reporter marvelled, perhaps only you in the world would dare to operate like this. Today, Kingston not only overcame the skepticism but has even become an ideal nation that American tech workers aspire to. It's worth noting that this unique private company, which does not seek financing, go public, or take out loans, was still founded by two Chinese individuals.
Du Jiachuan and Sun Dawei bonded over basketball. In the 1970s, Du Jiachuan was working in sales and met Sun Dawei during a basketball game, which became the starting point for their entrepreneurial journey.
At the time, Sun Dawei was a hardware engineer and often mentioned to Du Jiachuan the high profits from computer motherboard manufacturing. This sparked Du Jiachuan's business acumen, and they decided to collaborate to start a company: Camintonn, focusing on storage business, which coincided with the boom of the American economy and was very successful.
Over two years, they didn't make a fortune, but they did earn a steady stream of income. When a company wanted to acquire Camintonn, they sold the company and invested the funds in the stock market, enjoying life.
However, the U.S. stock market crash on October 17, 1987, known as "Black Monday," left them bankrupt overnight. After experiencing a downturn, they decided to start over, finding 2000 USD in Du Jiachuan's garage to use as startup capital, thus beginning the journey of Kingston.
Today, Kingston is not only the world's largest memory company but has also been named one of the best employers in the U.S. multiple times, all thanks to the unique corporate culture that the founders have consistently adhered to.
Du Jiachuan dislikes the management theories of business schools. He often directly assists employees in need and arranges for "bonus trips" to relax after business trips. They believe that happiness is most important.
Some say they spend money like water, but in 1996, when SoftBank Japan acquired Kingston, they even gave up the remaining 330 million USD payment and instead took out 100 million USD to distribute to the employees. Later, when SoftBank Japan wanted to sell Kingston back to them, they earned over 600 million USD from the deal. Du Jiachuan and Sun Dawei understand that making money is not the sole purpose of work; they hope their employees can experience fairness, happiness, trust, and a touch of sweetness in life. As the saying goes, "A thousand pieces of gold may be spent, but they will come back again." Disasters are unpredictable, but sometimes, disaster can be transformed into the best gift when it falls into the realm of sincerity and human kindness.
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