Mustek CEO David Kan passes away

Mustek has announced that its CEO and founder of its South African business David Kan has passed away.

“It is with profound sadness that Mustek announces that David Kan, our much loved and respected CEO, has passed away,” Mustek said in a statement.

“We extend our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy to Davids’s family. Our thoughts are with them at this most difficult time.”

The company said it would make a further announcement in due course.

Kan founded Mustek South Africa in 1987, shortly after arriving in South Africa from Taiwan.

He did a series of odd jobs growing up — including being a dishwasher at 15, a waiter, a truck driver, and working for a removal company.

He arrived in South Africa in 1986 and started working in a cutlery factory.

In 1987, he attended South Africa’s first personal computer exhibition at the Johannesburg Sun.

There, he met former Mustek Corporation MD Owen Chen and discovered the company wanted to set up a warehouse in South Africa.

Kan proposed a partnership, and borrowed $50,000 from Chen and his father to get started. They never needed to introduce more capital into the business.

With Kan at the helm, Mustek and Mecer developed into well-known and respected brands in South Africa.

Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary Rectron, Mustek is one of the largest assemblers and distributors of personal computers and ICT products in South Africa.