Richard King

Richard King has been in the investment business for more than 30 years. He was trained as a nuclear physicist, receiving his Ph D in physics from New York University. Before moving to Wall Street, he worked for IBM and General Precision Laboratory. On Wall Street he began as an electronics analyst for Paine Webber, E.F. Hutton, and Donaldson, Lufkind and Jenrette (DLJ). Richard was named as an All American Analyst for six consecutive years by ‘Institutional Investor’ magazine.

While working as an analyst, Richard developed close working relationships with a new generation of entrepreneurs in the technology field. Recognizing the need to bring to these companies the capital they needed in order to fulfill their potential, he initiated investment banking relationships for these tech businesses—including National Semiconductor, Mostek and Unitrode-- with the Wall Street firms where he was employed. Subsequently, Richard moved into investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, concentrating in mergers and acquisitions in the technology field. He then joined Sprout, the venture capital subsidiary of DLJ, as a senior vice-president.

In 1982 Richard became one of the first Asian Americans to start a venture capital partnership. He co-founded three partnerships altogether, capitalized at more than $100 million. All three partnerships concentrated exclusively in high technology ventures, with an emphasis on start-up’s. Among the companies he invested in are Dallas Semiconductor Corporation, Oak Technology, and HHB Systems. In recent years Richard has actively invested in start-up’s and is currently serving as a director of Dallas Semiconductor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., a billion-dollar semiconductor company. He also serves as a director of Holoplex Technology., Inc., a company focusing on free space optics (FSO). Richard also currently serves as a venture partner for GRP Venture Partners, a Los Angeles-based company managing more than $600 million. He also serves as an advisor to Nexit, a Finnish venture partnership specializing in wireless technologies with offices in Helsinki and in Silicon Valley, and to Opticomp, a developer of optical switches.

A grandson of two directors of the Bank of China, Richard has one son, Bentley, a graduate of Cornell. He is married to Carol Edgar, and the couple maintains homes on San Francisco’s Nob Hill and on Shelter Island, New York, on the East End of Long Island. His leisure pursuits include tennis, skiing, travel, history and international relations.