Kingston Technology—Kingston distributed $71.5M in bonuses to employees after Softbank acquisition
When Softbank acquired 80% of Kingston Technology in 1996 for $1.5 billion, co-founders John Tu and David Sun distributed $71.5 million in bonuses to their approximately 550 employees, averaging roughly $130,000 per person. Kingston was subsequently named Fortune's #2 Best Company to Work For in America in 1999 and appeared on the list for 5 consecutive years (1998-2002).
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worker Rights | +toward | primary | +1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.858 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Kingston co-founders distributed $71.5M in bonuses to 550 employees after Softbank acquisition
When Softbank purchased 80% of Kingston Technology for $1.5 billion in 1996, co-founders John Tu and David Sun shared $71.5 million of the proceeds with employees, averaging $130,000 per person. Kingston was later named Fortune's #2 Best Company to Work For.