KLA Corporation

KLA Instruments was incorporated in Delaware in July 1975.⁠[1]

Kenneth Levy founded the company with Bob Anderson, who had been chief financial officer of Computervision. Levy recalled that the first product, an automated photomask inspection system, was an instant success, and that KLA went public in 1980.⁠[2]

Tencor Instruments was founded in 1976; its first product was the Alpha-Step stylus surface profiler. KLA and Tencor reached a merger agreement in 1992, but it was broken off in early 1993.⁠[3]

On April 30, 1997, KLA Instruments completed its merger with Tencor Instruments. Each Tencor common share was converted into one company share, and the corporate name was changed to KLA-Tencor Corporation.⁠[4]

The stock-swap merger was valued at $1.3 billion.⁠[3]

The transaction was accounted for as a pooling of interests. After the merger, Kenneth Levy was chairman, Jon D. Tompkins chief executive officer, and Kenneth L. Schroeder president and chief operating officer. As of June 30, 1997, the company had about 3,600 employees, and fiscal 1997 revenue was about $1.03 billion.⁠[1]

Levy recalled working with Tencor’s head, Jon Tompkins, to bring the two companies together.⁠[2]

In 1999 Kenneth L. Schroeder became CEO, with Kenneth Levy as chairman.⁠[3]

On November 15, 2005, KLA-Tencor announced that Schroeder would retire as CEO at the end of the year and that Richard P. (Rick) Wallace, then president and chief operating officer, would become CEO effective January 1, 2006, with John Kispert named president and chief operating officer. Wallace had joined the company in 1988 in an engineering role.⁠[5]

After a May 2006 Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is a U.S. news publication founded in 1889, with a focus on business, finance and economics. It is published by Dow Jones, part of News Corp.Open the full entry article on its option grants, the company’s shares fell more than 10%. On October 16, 2006, it announced that it had ended all employment ties with Schroeder.⁠[6]

On July 25, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Schroeder with fraud, alleging that he backdated options between 1999 and 2002 and again in 2005. Without admitting or denying the allegations, the company consented to a permanent injunction; in light of its cooperation and remedial measures, the commission did not charge it with fraud or seek a penalty.⁠[7]

On January 24, 2008, the company announced a $65 million settlement of the options backdating securities class action, releasing all defendants, including Schroeder.⁠[6]

In 2015 Lam ResearchLam ResearchLam Research Corporation is an American supplier of wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry, headquartered in Fremont, California.Open the full entry agreed to buy KLA-Tencor for $67.02 per share in a $10.6 billion deal; together the two companies held about 42% of the wafer fabrication equipment market. On October 5, 2016, Lam Research terminated the deal, which KLA-Tencor attributed to antitrust concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice. KLA-Tencor shares fell 5.8% in extended trading.⁠[8]

No termination fees were payable by either company.⁠[9]

On March 19, 2018, KLA-Tencor and Orbotech, based in Yavne, Israel, announced an acquisition agreement valuing Orbotech’s equity at about $3.4 billion. Orbotech mainly served the manufacture of printed circuit boards and flat panel displays. Expected to close in late 2018, the deal was delayed by China’s review until the State Administration for Market Regulation approved it on February 17, 2019.⁠[10]

On February 20, 2019, the company completed the acquisition. Orbotech shareholders received $38.86 in cash and 0.25 of a KLA share for each Orbotech share, or $65.93 per share based on KLA’s closing price on February 19, 2019. Wallace said, “We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of Orbotech.”⁠[11]

On July 15, 2019, the company filed a certificate of amendment with the Delaware Secretary of State changing its name from KLA-Tencor Corporation to KLA Corporation, and amended its bylaws accordingly. Its shares continued to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol KLAC.⁠[12]

In October 2022 the U.S. issued new semiconductor export rules that effectively required licenses for all KLA products and services to customers in China making certain advanced logic, NAND and DRAM chips, and restricted some U.S.-origin technology for certain Chinese wafer fab equipment makers and maskshops.⁠[13]

The Commerce Department issued further rules from 2023 to 2025. China accounted for 43%, 33% and 30% of revenue in fiscal 2024, 2025 and 2026.⁠[14]

On May 7, 2026, the company announced a ten-for-one stock split; shares began trading on a split-adjusted basis at the open on June 12, 2026.⁠[15]

The company has three segments: Semiconductor Process Control, Specialty Semiconductor Process, and PCB and Component Inspection. It had about 17,000 regular full-time employees as of June 30, 2026.⁠[14]

On July 28, 2026, the company announced fiscal 2026 results for the year ended June 30, 2026: revenue of $13.58 billion, GAAP net income of $4.83 billion (fiscal 2025: $4.06 billion), and split-adjusted GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.66. Wallace said, “KLA remains uniquely positioned on the critical path of AI infrastructure expansion.”⁠[16]