Future Electronics

Last updated
Future Electronics Inc.
Company type Private
IndustryElectronics
Founded1968;56 years ago (1968)
Founder Robert G. Miller
FateAcquired by WT Microelectronics
Headquarters Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada
Number of locations
170 offices in 44 countries
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Omar Baig-Mirza (President) [1]
RevenueUS$5 billion (2014) [2]
Number of employees
5,200 (2023) [3]
Website futureelectronics.com

Future Electronics Inc. is a distributor of electronic and electro-mechanical components headquartered in Pointe-Claire, Quebec.

Contents

Future Electronics is one of Quebec's largest privately owned companies [4] and is currently the third largest electronics distributor in the world. [5] It operates in 170 locations in 44 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania. [6]

The company follows a business model that emphasizes zero debt and the willingness to buy and hold inventories, allowing the company to maintain positive relationship with component suppliers. [2] In 2014, its revenues were $5 billion. [2]

History

Future Electronics was founded in November 1968 when Robert Miller left his job in electronics distribution to form a new company. Alongside his business partner, Eli Manis, Miller set up an office in Montreal and began a distribution operation. In 1972, the pair opened an office in Boston, Massachusetts. [7]

Miller became the sole owner of the company after he bought Manis out for $500,000 in 1976. [8] By 1988, an office in Huntsville, Alabama had opened its doors, and Future Electronics was a major distributor in the United States.

In the decades that followed, Future became a globally recognised distributor of components. It remains privately owned to this day. [9]

In 1999, the company was raided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a fraud probe into the company. [10] [11] A few years later, in 2002, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office announced they would not pursue charges in the matter. [10]

In February 2023, its founder ceased to be chairman and CEO of the company amid allegations that he solicited multiple underage girls for sex, while denying the accusations. [12] [3]

In late 2023, it was announced that WT Microelectronics had entered into an agreement to acquire Future for US$3.8 billion, to be completed in the first half of 2024. [12] [3] On April 2, 2024, WT Microelectronics of Taiwan announced it had completed the acquisition. [13]

Leadership history

Chief Executive Officers of Future include:

See also

Related Research Articles

Charles Bronfman, is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion in 2023, Bronfman was ranked by Forbes as the 1,217th wealthiest person in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alain Bouchard</span> Canadian billionaire businessman

Alain Bouchard is a Canadian billionaire businessman. He is co-founder and chairman of Alimentation Couche-Tard, and also serves on the board of directors of Atrium Innovations. Both corporations are based in Quebec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black billionaires</span>

Black billionaires are individuals who are of predominantly African ancestry with a net worth of at least US$1 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DLF (company)</span> Indian commercial real estate developer

Delhi Land & Finance is a commercial real estate development company. It was founded by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh in 1946 and it is based in New Delhi, India. DLF has developed residential colonies in Delhi such as Model Town, Rajouri Garden, Krishna Nagar, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony, and Hauz Khas. DLF builds residential, office, and retail properties.

Emanuele "Lino" Saputo, is an Italian-Canadian billionaire businessman. He is the founder of the Canadian cheese manufacturer Saputo Inc. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$4.7 billion as of November 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mouser Electronics</span> American electronic components distributor

Mouser Electronics, Inc., is a global distributor of semiconductors and electronic components. With over $4 billion in annual revenue, Mouser is ranked as the seventh largest electronic component distributor in the world. The company has 28 locations globally and more than 3,900 employees. Mouser is part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies.

Yageo Corporation(國巨公司) is a Taiwanese Taiwan-based electronic component manufacturing company, founded in 1977. The company specializes in passive devices — resistors, capacitors and inductors. As of January 2020 they were the third largest passive component manufacturer in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Larian</span> Iranian-born American businessman (born 1954)

Isaac Larian is an Iranian-born American billionaire businessman, founder and the chief executive officer (CEO) of MGA Entertainment, the world's largest privately owned toy company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokyo Electron</span> Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturer

Tokyo Electron Limited, or TEL, is a Japanese electronics and semiconductor company headquartered in Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded as Tokyo Electron Laboratories, Inc. in 1963. TEL is best known as a supplier of equipment to fabricate integrated circuits (IC), flat panel displays (FPD), and photovoltaic cells (PV). Tokyo Electron Device, or TED, is a subsidiary of TEL specializing in semiconductor devices, electronic components, and networking devices. As of 2011, TEL was the largest manufacturer of IC and FPD production equipment. Listed on the Nikkei 225, in 2024, Tokyo Electron had a market cap of US$114.6 billion, making it the third-most valuable company in Japan in terms of market cap, and the 12th ranked semiconductor-related company worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Giving Pledge</span> Charitable organization

The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of June 2022, the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, and as of 2023, their pledges are estimated at a total of US$600 billion. However, there is no enforcement mechanism, and no restrictions on the charitable causes that signatories are allowed to support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sazerac Company</span> Alcoholic drinks company based in New Orleans, US

Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionaire William Goldring and his family. As of 2017, it operated nine distilleries, had 2,000 employees, and operated in 112 countries. It is one of the two largest spirits companies in the United States, with annual revenue of about $1 billion made from selling about 300 beverage brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molson Coors</span> Multinational beverage and brewing company

Molson Coors is a Canadian-American multinational drink and brewing company headquartered in Chicago, IL with main offices in Golden, Colorado, and Montreal, Quebec.

Robert Miller is a Canadian billionaire businessman who founded Future Electronics in 1968, and built it into the world's third-largest electronics distributor. He stepped down as the company's president and chief executive officer following allegations by at least 28 women of setting up a system involving paying young girls for sex.

<i>The Worlds Billionaires</i> Annual ranking of the Worlds billionaires by Forbes magazine

The World's Billionaires is an annual ranking of people who are billionaires, i.e., they are considered to have a net worth of US$1 billion or more, by the American business magazine Forbes. The list was first published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. Royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions are excluded from these lists. This ranking is an index of the wealthiest documented individuals, excluding any ranking of those with wealth that is not able to be completely ascertained.

D&H Distributing is a privately held North American technology distributor to the information technology (IT) and consumer electronics supply channels, founded in 1918 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Currently headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the company distributes IT products, including server, storage and networking solutions, consumer electronics, videogaming, home networking, housewares, and sports and recreation products with a focus on resellers selling to small business (SMB) technology customers. These products are distributed via six locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company's customer base consists of computer resellers, integrators, retailers, etailers and consumer electronics dealers. The majority of D&H's SMB and mid-market reseller customer base sells to regional offices in vertical markets, such as healthcare, education, real estate, advertising, and finance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liu Qiangdong</span> Chinese Internet entrepreneur (born 1973)

Liu Qiangdong (Richard) (Chinese: 刘强东; born March 10, 1973) is a Chinese Internet entrepreneur. Liu founded Jingdong as a business-to-consumer single retail store for magneto-optical products in June 1998 and later moved the company into an e-commerce website known as JD.com in 2004.

Lin Bin is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur, co-founder and vice chairman of Xiaomi.

Lawrence Sheldon Strulović, best known as Lawrence Stroll, is a Canadian businessman, part-owner and executive chairman of Aston Martin, and the owner of the Aston Martin F1 Team. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of US$3.9 billion, as of March 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Technoprobe</span>

Technoprobe is a designer and manufacturer of probe cards and measurement technologies for integrated circuits headquartered in Italy.

References

  1. "Future Electronics Announces New Executive Team" (Press release). 8 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Dolan, Kerry A. (31 March 2014). "Press-Shy Canadian Electronics Billionaire Robert Miller Breaks His Silence". Forbes. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Dion, Matthieu (September 14, 2023). "Taiwan's WT Buys Future Electronics for $3.8 Billion Amid Probe of Founder". Bloomberg News.
  4. "DeSoto lands electronics warehouse - Memphis Business Journal". Bizjournals.com. 2002-10-27. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  5. "2021 Top 50 Electronics Distributors List". sourcetoday.com. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  6. Caporicci, Claudio. "Future Electronics President Robert Miller Congratulates Austria Office on Their 20th Anniversary". PR.com . Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  7. "Future Electronics Comany History". Zippia. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  8. "Robert G. Miller". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  9. "Future Electronics and Robert Miller Celebrate 43rd Anniversary of Company's Incorporation in the US". The Free Library. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  10. 1 2 McIntosh, Andrew (2010-07-30). "Billionaire in messy, secretive divorce". North Bay Nugget . QMI Agency. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-11-11 via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Montreal's reclusive billionaire". National Post . Toronto, Ontario. Financial Post. 1999-05-15. p. 68. Retrieved 2023-11-11 via Newspapers.com.
  12. 1 2 "Quebec billionaire accused of paying minors for sex to sell Future Electronics for $5B". CBC.ca. The Canadian Press. September 14, 2023.
  13. "WT Microelectronics Completes Acquisition of Future Electronics". Future Electronics. Retrieved 2024-04-03.