Based on publicly available SEC filings, executive compensation context, and career history, the most credible Charles Kriete for net worth research is a technology and telecom executive currently serving as CEO of Zonar Systems and GPS Trackit. His documented public stock holding at TESSCO Technologies was a single share valued at roughly $9, but that figure captures only a tiny slice of observable wealth. A realistic estimate of his total net worth, factoring in executive compensation across a two-decade career, equity stakes in ventures like Pillow-Fight, and private financial holdings, sits in the range of $1 million to $5 million as of May 2026, with meaningful uncertainty on both ends.
Charles Kriete Net Worth: Estimate Method, Sources, and Range
Marcus Redfield
12 May 2026
Which Charles Kriete are we talking about?
There are at least two individuals named Charles Kriete active in professional records right now, so getting the identity right matters before any number is attached. The primary subject of most public financial and career records is Charles W. Kriete, a Seattle-based technology executive whose career has run through mobile tech, IoT, fleet telematics, and enterprise SaaS. As of 2026, he holds the CEO role at Zonar Systems and is also identified as CEO of GPS Trackit following a merger-related alignment between the two companies. A second Charles Kriete appears on LinkedIn associated with Kriete Strategic Solutions, LLC in New York, and a FINRA BrokerCheck entry exists for a "KRIETE, CHARLES" tied to regulated financial-industry records. These are likely different people.
For this article, the focus is on Charles W. Kriete, the tech executive. His career is well-documented across SEC filings, press releases, court records (notably Kirsch v. Brightstar Corp.), and corporate announcements spanning from at least 2005 through 2026. He co-founded a company called OTBT in 2005, which was later acquired and operated as a joint venture between Tech Data and Brightstar. He went on to hold senior vice president roles at Wyless and TESSCO Technologies (Nasdaq: TESS), served as Chief Marketing Officer at KORE Wireless, and later as Chief Revenue Officer at TechInsights. He also co-founded Pillow-Fight LLC (incorporated August 2020, Denver, Colorado) alongside Shelby Noakes and William LeGate. His most recent and prominent role places him at the CEO level in the fleet and student transportation technology sector.
The net worth estimate, straight up
The only publicly confirmed stock-based figure for Charles W. Kriete comes from GuruFocus, which derived a net worth estimate of "at least $9" from a single disclosed SEC insider transaction at TESSCO Technologies dated September 12, 2019, representing one share of TESS common stock. GuruFocus itself flags this as incomplete, noting the estimate reflects only observable stock holdings and assumes the person still holds shares after the last recorded transaction date. That $9 figure is not a meaningful net worth number. It is a floor based on the minimum observable public market position, nothing more.
A more grounded range, built from career compensation norms and available signals, puts Charles W. Kriete's likely total net worth somewhere between $1 million and $5 million as of May 2026. If you came here looking for Charles Trunz net worth specifically, that is a different individual and another set of publicly reported indicators should be checked separately before comparing numbers. If you want the details behind the range, see how this estimate ties back to Charles Khabouth net worth discussions and similar executive wealth calculations. The lower bound assumes he accumulated modest savings and equity from multiple senior executive roles without significant liquidity events. The upper bound allows for equity gains from the OTBT co-founding and acquisition, potential equity in Zonar/GPS Trackit through executive compensation packages, and private venture stakes like Pillow-Fight. Without private equity valuations, full compensation disclosures, or a confirmed liquidity event, the exact figure cannot be nailed down.
How this estimate is built
Net worth is assets minus liabilities, and for private individuals who are not billionaires or major public company shareholders, most of those assets stay out of public view. Here is what we can observe, what we can reasonably infer, and where the gaps are.
What we know
- SEC insider filing at TESSCO Technologies lists "Charles W. Kriete" as Senior Vice President, with a beneficial ownership entry of 3,148 shares noted in proxy documents. At TESSCO's historical share price range, that position would have been worth tens of thousands of dollars, not a transformative number.
- A formal Severance and Restrictive Covenant Agreement (dated January 23, 2017) between TESSCO Technologies and Charles Kriete is publicly filed on Justia, confirming a negotiated executive employment arrangement with structured separation terms, which typically implies base salary in the six-figure range.
- TESSCO DEF 14A filings from the 2017 proxy cycle include Kriete in the executive compensation table, placing him in the Named Executive Officer or senior leadership tier. TESSCO was a mid-cap Nasdaq company at the time, and SVP-level compensation at such firms typically runs $200,000 to $400,000 annually in base plus bonus.
- The OTBT co-founding in 2005 and subsequent acquisition by Tech Data/Brightstar represents one documented potential liquidity event, though the transaction terms and Kriete's equity stake size are not publicly disclosed.
- Pillow-Fight LLC is a private company with no disclosed funding rounds on Crunchbase, meaning no institutional valuation is available. As a co-founder, Kriete likely holds equity, but its current value is speculative.
What we're inferring
- A C-suite career spanning at least 20 years across funded and acquired companies, with multiple SVP and C-level roles, suggests cumulative compensation well into the millions when base salary, bonuses, and equity awards are totaled across employers.
- CEO roles at Zonar Systems and GPS Trackit, both backed by private equity (Inverness Graham), typically include equity participation packages. The size of those packages is not public, but PE-backed CEO equity is often the largest single wealth driver for operators at this level.
- Real estate and personal investment holdings are entirely untracked in public records for this individual. No property records or significant asset filings have surfaced in available research.
- Liabilities are unknown. No public debt filings, bankruptcy records, or significant litigation judgments against Kriete personally appear in available sources.
Career earnings and the major wealth drivers
Charles W. Kriete's career earnings can be traced through a series of progressively senior roles from 2005 onward. Co-founding OTBT in 2005 was the earliest documented wealth-creation event, and the company's eventual acquisition and operation as a Tech Data/Brightstar joint venture likely produced some founder return, though the exact terms were never made public. His subsequent move to Wyless as Senior Vice President of Sales, then to KORE Wireless as Chief Marketing Officer following KORE's acquisition of Wyless in 2016, put him at the C-level in a growing IoT connectivity business.
The TESSCO tenure (January 2017 onward) is the most financially documented chapter because TESSCO was a public company. As SVP for product management and solutions, Kriete's compensation would have appeared in annual proxy filings, and his 3,148-share position, while modest, signals that equity was part of his package. After TESSCO, he moved through TechInsights as Chief Revenue Officer before landing in the fleet tech sector at Zonar and GPS Trackit.
The Zonar/GPS Trackit CEO role is almost certainly the biggest current wealth driver. Both companies are backed by Inverness Graham, a private equity firm, and operating as CEO of a PE-backed company in a strategic merger context typically means a meaningful equity stake tied to exit value. If Zonar and GPS Trackit are sold or taken public, Kriete's equity could represent a substantial wealth event. That outcome is not guaranteed and has no timeline, but it is the single variable most likely to move his net worth significantly upward.
Pillow-Fight LLC (the Denver-based company he co-founded in 2020 with Shelby Noakes and William LeGate) adds a second private equity angle, though its size and current activity level suggest it is a secondary venture rather than a primary income source. No funding rounds have been publicly announced, so its current value is hard to model.
Why different sites show different numbers
If you searched for Charles Kriete net worth before landing here, you may have encountered the GuruFocus estimate of "at least $9." That number is technically accurate in a narrow sense: it reflects the minimum observable stock position in SEC filings and nothing else. For a broader look at Charles Cyphers net worth reporting, compare how these sources treat insider stock holdings versus total personal wealth. GuruFocus is transparent about this limitation, stating plainly that the estimate assumes continued ownership of the last disclosed shares and does not attempt to capture total personal wealth. It is an insider transaction tracker, not a comprehensive wealth profiler.
Other aggregator sites sometimes inflate figures for private individuals by extrapolating salary ranges from job title lookups, applying industry multipliers, or blending data from similarly named people without rigorous disambiguation. For someone like Charles W. Kriete, who shares his name with at least one other professional (the New York-based Kriete Strategic Solutions individual and the FINRA-registered financial professional), cross-contamination of identity in automated databases is a real risk. A site that does not carefully distinguish Charles W. Kriete from the New York Charles Kriete, or from the FINRA registrant, could produce a wildly inaccurate number.
The most reliable methodology for a private executive like Kriete is to start from documented compensation (SEC proxy filings), layer in observable equity positions, estimate career earnings from role and sector benchmarks, and apply a conservative savings and investment accumulation model. That is the approach used here, and it produces the $1 million to $5 million range rather than a false-precision single number.
How to verify this yourself today
If you want to check or improve this estimate using primary sources, here is a practical step-by-step approach you can run from a laptop right now.
- Search SEC EDGAR (efts.sec.gov) for "Charles Kriete" and "Charles W. Kriete" in both the full-text search and the insider ownership lookup. This will surface any proxy filings (DEF 14A), Form 4 insider transaction reports, and beneficial ownership disclosures tied to public companies where he held an executive role.
- Pull the TESSCO Technologies DEF 14A filings from 2017 to 2019 on EDGAR. These annual proxy statements include executive compensation tables that show base salary, bonus, stock awards, and option grants for Named Executive Officers and senior leaders. Search for "Kriete" within each document.
- Check GuruFocus's insider transactions page for Charles Kriete to see all SEC-reported equity transactions. Note the caveats on the page about the limitations of the estimate shown.
- Run a FINRA BrokerCheck search (brokercheck.finra.org) for "Charles Kriete" to identify the financial-industry registrant by that name and confirm whether it is a different individual from the tech executive. This also helps rule out any disciplinary or regulatory history that might affect the wealth picture.
- Search Crunchbase for "Pillow-Fight" to find the current status of the Denver LLC, any disclosed funding, and the listed founders. This helps you assess whether that venture has added any publicly tracked valuation.
- Search Justia or CourtListener for "TESSCO Technologies" and "Charles Kriete" to pull up the Severance and Restrictive Covenant Agreement filed in January 2017. This document, while not disclosing exact compensation, establishes that a formal executive agreement existed with structured terms.
- Look up Zonar Systems and GPS Trackit on Crunchbase or PitchBook to find their most recent funding rounds, investors, and any disclosed valuation ranges. This gives context for what a CEO equity stake in those companies might plausibly be worth at exit.
What could change this estimate
The biggest single variable is a liquidity event at Zonar or GPS Trackit. Both companies are PE-backed, which means an exit (sale to a strategic acquirer or an IPO) is the expected endgame. If that exit happens at a significant valuation and Kriete holds even a small percentage of equity, his net worth could jump well above the current range in a single transaction. PE-backed CEO equity packages at companies in the $100 million to $500 million valuation range can be worth anywhere from a few hundred thousand to several million dollars at exit depending on the stake size and preference stack.
On the downside, if Zonar or GPS Trackit underperforms or the PE sponsor decides to restructure leadership, a CEO departure without a completed exit could mean equity that vests partially or not at all. The restrictive covenant agreement from TESSCO (a public document) shows that Kriete has historically negotiated structured separation terms, which is a sign of executive-level legal preparation, but it does not guarantee favorable outcomes in future roles.
The Pillow-Fight venture is a wild card in the other direction. With no disclosed funding and a 2020 incorporation date, it is either a small lifestyle business or an early-stage startup waiting for the right moment. If it raises a meaningful round or gets acquired, that adds to the picture. If it remains private and small, it stays in the background.
For routine updates, the most reliable triggers to watch are: new SEC Form 4 filings if Kriete joins a public company board, press releases announcing acquisitions or funding rounds at Zonar or GPS Trackit, and any TESSCO-era stock transactions that may still be in the GuruFocus database. This estimate should be revisited if any of those events occur, or at minimum annually as executive compensation context shifts. Readers interested in comparable profiles for other Charles-named executives, including those with more documented public market positions, can find similar breakdowns elsewhere on this site.
The estimate at a glance
| Wealth Component | Estimated Range | Confidence Level | Primary Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TESSCO equity (historical) | $30,000 to $100,000 | Moderate | SEC DEF 14A, insider filings |
| Career compensation (cumulative) | $800,000 to $3,000,000 | Low to moderate | Role/sector benchmarks |
| OTBT co-founder proceeds | $50,000 to $500,000 | Low | Acquisition confirmed; terms undisclosed |
| Zonar/GPS Trackit equity (unrealized) | $0 to $2,000,000+ | Very low (pre-exit) | PE-backed CEO norms |
| Pillow-Fight LLC equity | Negligible to $100,000 | Very low | Crunchbase; no funding disclosed |
| Total estimated net worth | $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 | Low to moderate | Composite estimate |
FAQ
How can I confirm I’m looking at the right Charles Kriete before trusting any net worth number?
Check whether the person is tied to Charles W. Kriete and the tech career path (Zonar Systems and GPS Trackit CEO roles). Then verify that SEC-related records, executive titles, and geography (Seattle for the tech executive) match, because there is also a New York-based Charles Kriete and a FINRA-registered “KRIETE, CHARLES,” which can get mixed up by aggregators.
Why does the “at least $9” figure appear, and why shouldn’t it be treated as his net worth?
That figure comes from an observable SEC-listed insider stock holding that represents only a minimum market position. It does not capture cash, retirement accounts, private equity stakes, company options that were exercised or expired, or equity that is not currently disclosed, so it is effectively a floor on public stock holdings, not total wealth.
What kinds of disclosures in SEC filings would be most useful for narrowing the net worth range?
For a private individual, the most informative items are Forms 4 (insider buys and sells), proxy statement disclosures for compensation and equity grants, and any board or officer roles at public companies that trigger additional insider reporting. If you see repeated stock sales with sustained dates, that can also signal partial liquidity even when a total equity stake is not fully known.
Does being CEO of a PE-backed company automatically mean Charles Kriete is “rich” in a quantifiable way?
Not automatically. PE-backed CEO roles often include equity, but the size of the stake depends on grant terms (percentage, vesting schedule, performance targets, and preference/liquidation mechanics). If there is no completed exit, equity may remain illiquid, so it may not translate into realized net worth beyond a conservative base.
What is the single biggest event that could push his net worth outside the $1 million to $5 million range?
A liquidity event at Zonar or GPS Trackit, such as a sale to a strategic buyer or an IPO, combined with Kriete holding a meaningful equity percentage that is sufficiently vested. Even a small stake can matter at higher exit valuations, but restructuring or forfeiture terms could limit upside.
If Zonar or GPS Trackit is not sold soon, does that mean his net worth estimate should be lower?
It usually means you should be cautious about assuming equity value. Without realized transactions or updated valuations, private equity stakes are hard to mark to market. In that scenario, a lower-end bias is reasonable unless there are fresh signals like new financing rounds, public listing steps, or increased disclosed insider ownership.
How should I interpret equity that is “vested” versus “exercisable” when thinking about net worth?
Vested equity can be eligible to convert, but net worth depends on whether it is actually exercisable and not subject to forfeiture, lockups, or performance conditions. Options that are not in-the-money or RSUs subject to holding periods might not become liquid even if they are technically granted.
Can compensation at Zonar/GPS Trackit materially change the net worth estimate even without an exit?
Yes, salary and bonuses can gradually increase net worth through savings and incremental investment. However, for executives, the largest swings generally come from equity appreciation or liquidation, so compensation alone typically supports the range through accumulation rather than causing sudden jumps unless payouts are exceptionally large or combined with asset sales.
What role does Pillow-Fight likely play in the wealth estimate, and why is it uncertain?
It is a secondary “wild card.” Because there are no publicly announced funding rounds or clear valuation markers in the available information, its impact could range from minimal (small private business) to meaningful (if it raises capital or is acquired). Without those milestones, it is hard to model responsibly.
Why do some websites produce wildly different numbers for the same person?
Most discrepancies come from identity cross-contamination (mixing multiple Charles Kriete profiles) and from weak modeling for private holdings. Some sites extrapolate income from job titles using generic multipliers, which ignores how equity, vesting, tax treatment, and liquidity constraints work for specific executives.
What practical “watch items” would let me update the estimate faster than waiting a full year?
Track new SEC Form 4 filings for insider activity, any proxy statement updates if he has public-company governance roles, and press releases tied to acquisitions, funding rounds, or major restructuring at Zonar or GPS Trackit. Also, watch for changes that indicate a shift from employment-only roles to documented equity grants or board-level responsibilities.
Could his net worth be higher than the $1 million to $5 million range without an exit?
It is possible but less likely without evidence. Higher net worth without an exit would generally require unusually valuable liquid assets, large realized compensation, or clearly disclosed equity positions that can be valued. If you cannot find documentation of material holdings or transactions, the wide range should be interpreted as uncertainty rather than a suggestion of certainty above it.