Who Founded Garmin?

Min H. Kao co-founded Garmin in 1989 with Gary Burrell, and the company name combines their first names. Born in Taiwan, he studied at National Taiwan University and the University of Tennessee and worked on GPS and navigation systems before starting Garmin. He helped set up the company's manufacturing in Taiwan, which is still central to its vertically integrated model. He led Garmin as CEO through the 2000s, then handed the role to Cliff Pemble in 2013 and stayed on as executive chairman. He is also known for major gifts to the University of Tennessee, whose electrical engineering and computer science department bears his name.

Min H. Kao was born in 1949.

Gary Burrell co-founded Garmin in 1989 and led it as chief executive alongside Min Kao in its early years. He brought avionics industry experience and a conservative approach to money, which shaped Garmin's early focus on marine and aviation GPS and its debt-free balance sheet. He later stepped back from day-to-day management, became chairman emeritus, and died in 2019.

Gary Burrell was born in 1937 in Stilwell. Education: Wichita State University; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.