Duane Kurisu

Notable work and positions

aio - Founder and Chairman
Oahu Publications, Inc. - Minority Owner
San Francisco Giants - Minority Owner

Biography

Duane Kurisu is founder and chairman of aio, a Hawaii-based family of companies spanning media, real estate, sports, technology, and food. Born and raised in the plantation town of Hakalau on Hawaii Island, he graduated from Hilo High School and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In his late twenties he launched a commercial real estate development and management business, and in 1992 founded what became aio with Hawaii Winter Baseball, a minor-league off-season baseball league. In the mid-1990s he acquired his first media property, Hawaii Business magazine, and went on to build aio Media Group into one of Hawaii's most influential media companies, encompassing Honolulu magazine, Hawaii Business, Hawaii Home + Remodeling, ESPN Honolulu and CBS Sports Radio Hawaii, and Watermark Publishing. Kurisu is a minority owner of Oahu Publications, Inc., publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and of the San Francisco Giants. He also created the aio Foundation, whose projects include Kahauiki Village, a plantation-style community built for previously homeless families. He serves as a trustee of Punahou School and Claremont McKenna College and is a former University of Hawaii Regent.

Career highlights

• Founder and Chairman, aio Built a diversified family of Hawaii companies spanning media, real estate, sports, technology, and food, beginning with Hawaii Winter Baseball in 1992.
• Minority owner, Oahu Publications and the San Francisco Giants Holds ownership stakes in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's parent company and Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants.
• Kahauiki Village Developed through the aio Foundation, a plantation-style community housing previously homeless families near Honolulu.