Steve Kahng

Stephen Shinhak Kahng (born December 1949) was the chairman and CEO of Macintosh clone manufacturer Power Computing.

Early life and education
Kahng was born in South Korea about six months before the. His father was a professor of mechanical engineering. At the age of 17, he emigrated with his family to the United States. Kahng attended the from 1974 to 1977, where he earned a masters degree in computer engineering.

Career
Kahng engineered the, a PC clone, for a flat fee of 200,000. After it was released in 1985 and became a best-seller for, Kahng found more lucrative work as consultant for other clone manufacturers. His success earned him the moniker "King Kahng". He joined in 1988, where he became the senior VP and general manager.

Power Computing
In the fall of 1993, vice-chairman  recruited Kahng to become the CEO of a proposed company that was being planned to manufacture computers based on around the new PowerPC processor. Kahng invested $4 million of his own money along with $5 million in start-up capital from Olivetti to co-found Power Computing in November 1993. Kahng began negotiating with Apple Computer in April 1994 and designed a prototype Macintosh clone that was cheaper to manufacture than Apple's own models. On December 17, 1994, Power Computing became the first official 3rd-party licensee of Mac OS.

Apple's own sales became cannibalized as corporate customers, such as, began switching to Power Computing as their Mac supplier. Soon after Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he orchestrated an end to the Mac cloning business. Apple bought Power Computing's Mac license and related assets in September 1997 for $100 million in Apple stock. Following the sale, Power Computing shifted to the PC clone business for only about a month. In January 1998, the company was closed for liquidation to return its assets to investors and shareholders.

Philanthropy
Kahng retired from the technology industry and presently focuses on philanthropy through the Kahng Foundation, a university scholarship fund for women who have fled.

Articles

 * Une pub pour les premiers clones de Macintosh (Power Computing) (French) by Pierre Dandumont at Le Journal du Lapin (2015-09-12)