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K. Philip Hwang, 47, founder of TeleVideo Systems, a maker of computers and computer terminals. At twelve, Hwang was smuggled from North Korea to South Korea by U.S. troops under some maps and canvas in an Army truck. After arriving in the U.S., he paid his way through college working as a dishwasher and waiter in Lake Tahoe casinos. Hwang gained business experience by running a 7-Eleven store in San Jose, Calif., and then in 1975 used his savings of $9,000 to start making video games in his Cupertino, Calif., garage.
Though his company was shunned at first by established financial backers, Hwang got started making low-cost, high-quality computer monitors. When TeleVideo went public in March, Hwang sold shares worth $11.8 million, but kept stock worth $520.4 million.
The only discernible change in Hwang's life-style has been to move into a new home in Los Altos that was modeled after a Welsh castle. It has a sauna and Jacuzzi in the master bedroom and an elaborate security system. Hwang still works a six-day week. Says he: "My executives call me a slave driver. But I tell them to look at Osborne, and they don't say anything." Adam Osborne headed a fast-growing personal-computer firm that announced plans to go public last winter but ended up filing for bankruptcy in September.
Benjamin Rosen, 50, a major investor in Lotus Development and chairman of Compaq Computer. Sophisticated and possessing a soft-spoken wit, Rosen earned electrical-engineering degrees from the California Institute of Technology and Stanford and worked first for Raytheon as an engineer. While still in his 20s, he decided to become a stock analyst. He picked up an M.B.A. degree, worked for Coleman & Co., a New York securities firm, and then for Morgan Stanley & Co. and began publishing a highly regarded electronics-industry newsletter.
Three years ago, Rosen launched his third and most successful career as a nurturer of young companies. He started two venture-capital funds with L.J. Sevin, founder of Mostek, a semiconductor manufacturer. Sevin Rosen Management's $2.1 million investment in Lotus, a software manufacturer located in Cambridge, Mass., turned into a holding worth $70 million when the company went public in October. The fund invested some $2.5 million in Compaq, a Houston-based firm that makes a portable computer that runs like the IBM PC. When Compaq went public last month, that investment was suddenly worth $40 million. But not all Sevin Rosen picks are winners. The fund is likely to lose the $400,000 it invested in Osborne Computer.
Rosen is much more than a passive investor. Last March he became chairman of Compaq, and he now spends one day a week on its affairs. His main interest is marketing, for which he has an instinctive knack. Like most successful venture capitalists, Rosen sees far more deals than he can participate in. Working out of an office in New York City's Pan Am Building, he screens proposals "ruthlessly" and invests in only about one out of every 50 that are presented to him. Looking back over his three careers, Rosen says, "It was fun being an analyst and fun being an engineer, but this is the most fun of all." It should be. Rosen's net worth is now estimated at $20 million.
Arnold Bernhard, 82, creator of the Value Line stock-rating service. The