Episode #17: Richard Dyck, President of TGK-Japan

Richard Dyck, President of TGK-Japan, originally visited Japan as a student in 1965. With a PhD in the field of semiconductor from Harvard University, Dr. Dyck began working at General Electric’s Japanese office. Dr. Dyck then moved to Teradyne, a Boston based manufacturer of semiconductor equipment, leading the Asia operations for 20 years. He then went on to establish his independent company after a management buy-out of Teradyne’s high speed connection system business, starting at $8 million. After selling his company for $50 million, Dr. Dyck then became involved in Japan Industrial Partners, a private equity specializing in carve-outs of businesses from large Japanese corporations. When the firm bought out a spindle motor business from the Japan Victor Company, Dr. Dyck took on the role of leading the $300 million business with a large factory in Thailand and a labour force of 5000 employees. He was confident in using the Japanese approach to quality control. Dr. Dyck also serves on the board of Hitachi Chemicals, which he describes is another “experience at looking at a Japanese company from the inside.”