Charles Woo

Charles Woo is the co-owner and Chief Executive Officer of Megatoys, a toy manufacturing, import/export, wholesale, and retail company in downtown Los Angeles.

Charlie came to Los Angeles from Hong Kong at 17. He earned his B.S. degree summa cum laude, in 1972, and his master’s degree in 1975, in physics from UCLA. During 1979, he took time off from doctorate research to help his family start ABC Toys, a small toy import/wholesale business in the run-down industrial area in downtown. As the business grew, he began to invest and refurbish nearby rundown warehouses and help other Asian immigrants start toy businesses there. Today, hundreds of toy suppliers cluster around his neighborhood that was once a deserted warehouse district, creating a billion dollar wholesale/ retail center known as Toy District. In 1989, Charlie and his brother Peter founded Megatoys, expanding into different markets.

Megatoys was listed among the top one hundred fastest growing companies in Los Angeles County in 1995, and recognized as the “Minority Manufacturing Firm of the Year” by the City of Los Angeles in 1999.

Charlie Woo was the 2001 Chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, as the first Asian American chair in its 114 years of existence and its first small and medium sized business chair in recent memory. He currently chairs the International Trade and Investment Committee for the Chamber. He is currently the President of the Workforce Investment Board of Los Angeles, overseeing the nation’s second largest job training program. He also serves on Mayor Hahn’s as well as Supervisor Knabe’s International Business Advisory Committees.

Charlie also serves on the board of the Los Angeles Library Foundation, Asian Rehabilitation Services, LA’s BEST, Metropolitan Los Angeles YMCA, and the UCLA Foundation. He is currently the Chair of Chinese American United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE), a community based organization that provides voter education and leadership development for the Chinese and Asian American community.

Charlie has been honored for his community service by the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the A&E Biography network. For his professional achievements, he was honored by the UCLA Alumni Association, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the World Trade Center Association, the Asian Business Association, the Asian Business League, and the Chinese American Museum.