After a year in Canada, Kavli joined a small Los Angeles company that developed flight controls for Atlas missiles. Kavli rose to chief of engineering, but his entrepreneurial side beckoned. So he put a simple ad in the newspaper: "Engineer seeking financial backing to start own business." What emerged was Kavlico, which specialized in navigational sensors for the defense and aircraft industries.
Kavli invested much of his resulting wealth in Southern California real estate. He also became a well-known community donor near his company's headquarters in Moorpark, California, putting his name on a local performing arts center, and endowed some university professorships.
But not until he sold Kavlico for US$345 million to C-Mac Industries Inc in 2000 did Kavli set his sights on a larger-scale legacy.
"It's important to realize this guy's kept a very low profile his whole life, until he came out with all this," said Charles Vest, former MIT president and a member of the foundation's board.
The foundation is getting most of Kavli's money, as he is divorced and does not believe in leaving significant sums to his two children.
RSS