Editing Andy Bechtolsheim

{{short description|German electrical engineer, co-founder of Sun Microsystems (born 1955)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Andy Bechtolsheim
| image              = Andreas_bechtolsheim (cropped).jpg
| caption            = Bechtolsheim in 2012
| nationality        = 
| education          = [[Technical University of Munich]] ([[Bachelor of Engineering|BEng]])<br />[[Carnegie Mellon University]] ([[Master of Engineering|MEng]])
[[Stanford University]] ([[Doctor of philosophy|Unfinished PhD]])
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1955|9|30|df=y}}
| birth_place        = Hängeberg am Ammersee<br/>[[Finning, Bavaria|Finning]], [[Landsberg (district)|Landsberg]], [[Bavaria]], [[West Germany]]
| known_for          = Co-founder [[Sun Microsystems]] :; [[Arista Networks]]<br/>[[Google]] investor
| boards             = [[Arista Networks]]
}}

''' Andreas Maria Maximilian [[Freiherr]] von Mauchenheim genannt Bechtolsheim''' (born 30 September 1955<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2014 |title=Andreas Maria Maximilian Freiherr von Mauchenheim (genannt Bechtolsheim), Mitbegründer von Sun Microsystems |trans-title=Andreas Maria Maximilian Freiherr von Mauchenheim (called Bechtolsheim), co-founder of Sun Microsystems |url=http://www.diereichsten.de/index.php/alle-vorhandenen-beitraege/8-artikel-die-reichsten/13-andreas-maria-maximilian-freiherr-von-mauchenheim-vermoegen-und-biografie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924150718/http://www.diereichsten.de/index.php/alle-vorhandenen-beitraege/8-artikel-die-reichsten/13-andreas-maria-maximilian-freiherr-von-mauchenheim-vermoegen-und-biografie |archive-date=2018-09-24 |website=Die Reichsten}}</ref>) is a German electrical engineer, entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded [[Sun Microsystems]] in 1982 and was its chief hardware designer. {{As of|2025|post=,}} he's 68th wealthiest according to [[Bloomberg Billionaires Index]]  and ''[[Forbes]]'' with an estimated net worth of US$28.9{{nbsp}}billion.<ref name=Forbes2013>[https://www.forbes.com/profile/andreas-von-bechtolsheim/ Andreas von Bechtolsheim profile], Forbes.com, 14 December 2024.</ref>

==Early life and education==
Bechtolsheim was born at [[:de:Hängeberg (Finning)|Hängeberg am Ammersee]], located in [[Finning, Bavaria|Finning]], [[Landsberg (district)|Landsberg]], Bavaria,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EhnTDAAAQBAJ&q=H%C3%A4ngeberg+am+Ammersee&pg=PA37|title=Deutschland digital: Unsere Antwort auf das Silicon Valley|first1=Marc|last1=Beise|first2=Ulrich|last2=Schäfer|date=11 August 2016|publisher=Campus Verlag|isbn=978-3-593-50592-3|access-date=24 January 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> the second of four children. The isolated house had no television or close neighbors, so he experimented with electronics as a child. His family moved to [[Rome]] in 1963. Five years later, in 1968, the family relocated again, to [[Nonnenhorn]] on [[Lake Constance]] in Germany. At age 16, he designed an industrial controller for a nearby company based on the [[Intel 8008]], which he then programmed in [[binary code]] as he had no access to [[Assembly language|assemblers]]. Royalties from the product supported much of his education.<ref name="oral">{{cite web|title=Andreas Bechtolsheim & William Joy Oral History|work=Computerworld International Archives|author=Daniel S. Morrow|date=18 March 1999|url=http://www.cwheroes.org/archives/histories/BechtolsheimandJoy.pdf|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722143921/http://www.cwheroes.org/archives/histories/BechtolsheimandJoy.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

Bechtolsheim participated in the [[Jugend forscht]] competition for young researchers three times and won the physics prize in 1974. He began studying [[electrical engineering]] with a focus on data processing at the [[Technical University of Munich]], supported by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation, and graduated with an [[Electrical engineering|engineering degree]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Die Milliarden-Karriere: Andreas von Bechtolsheim - Bundessieger Physik 1974|year=2006|url=http://www.jugend-forscht.de/index.php/article/detail/723|access-date=12 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719224302/https://www.jugend-forscht.de/index.php/article/detail/723|archive-date=19 July 2011|language=de}}</ref> Frustrated by the limited access to computers and dissatisfied with his studies, he moved to the United States in 1975 with the help of a [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright scholarship]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fairbairn |first=Douglas |date=July 17, 2015 |title=Oral History of Andreas "Andy" Bechtolsheim |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2016/06/102737929-05-01-acc.pdf |website=Computer History Museum}}</ref> and earned a master's degree in [[computer engineering]] from [[Carnegie Mellon University]] in 1976.

In 1977, Bechtolsheim moved to Silicon Valley after receiving an internship offer from [[Justin Rattner]] at Intel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fairbairn |first=Douglas |date=July 17, 2015 |title=Oral History of Andreas "Andy" Bechtolsheim |url=https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2016/06/102737929-05-01-acc.pdf}}</ref> When Rattner relocated to Oregon, Bechtolsheim chose instead to enroll at [[Stanford University]] as a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] student in [[electrical engineering]]. He left Stanford five years later to pursue opportunities in the technology industry.<ref name="oral" /><ref>{{citation|title=Reflexionen vor Reflexen - Memoiren eines Forschers|location=Göttingen|publisher=Cuvillier Verlag|language=de|isbn=978-3-7369-9524-6|surname1=Leonhard Wolfgang Bibel|year=2017}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Sun100U Cardcage.jpg|thumb|alt=printed circuit boards|Early Sun workstation hardware]]
At Stanford, Bechtolsheim designed  a powerful computer (called a [[workstation]]) with built-in networking called the [[SUN workstation]], a name derived from the initials for the [[Stanford University Network]]. It was inspired by the [[Xerox Alto]] computer developed at the [[PARC (company)|Xerox Palo Alto Research Center]]. Bechtolsheim was a "no fee consultant" at Xerox, meaning he was not remunerated directly but had free access to the research being done there. At the time, [[Lynn Conway]] was using workstations to design [[very-large-scale integration]] (VLSI) circuits.<ref name="oral"/>

Bechtolsheim's advisor was [[Forest Baskett]]. In 1980, [[Vaughan Pratt]] also provided leadership to the SUN project. Support was provided by the Computer Science Department and [[DARPA]]. The modular computer was used for research projects such as developing the [[V (operating system)|V-System]], and for early [[Internet]] [[router (computing)|router]]s. Bechtolsheim tried to interest other companies in manufacturing the workstations, but only got lukewarm responses.<ref name="oral"/>

===Founding Sun===
One of the companies building computers for VLSI design was [[Daisy Systems]], where [[Vinod Khosla]] worked at the time. Khosla had graduated a couple of years earlier from the [[Stanford Graduate School of Business]] with [[Scott McNealy]], who managed manufacturing at [[Onyx Systems]]. Khosla, McNealy and Bechtolsheim wrote a short business plan <ref>{{cite web|title=Sun Microsystems Business Plan|year=1982|url=https://www.khoslaventures.com/wp-content/uploads/SunMicrosystem_bus_plan.pdf|access-date=25 December 2023}}</ref> and quickly received funding from [[venture capital]]ists in 1982.<ref name="oral"/> Bechtolsheim left Stanford to co-found the company, [[Sun Microsystems]], as employee number one, with McNealy and Khosla, and with [[Bill Joy]], who had been part of the team developing the [[BSD]] series of [[Unix]] operating systems at [[UC Berkeley]]; Bill is usually counted as the fourth member of the founding team. For a while Bechtolsheim and Joy shared an apartment in [[Palo Alto, California]].<ref name="oral"/>
[[File:SPARCstation 1 edit.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=small desktop computer|[[SPARCstation 1]], designed circa 1988]]

The first product, the [[Sun-1]], included the Stanford [[CPU]] board design with improved memory expansion, and a sheet-metal case. By the end of the year, the experimental [[Ethernet]] interface designed by Bechtolsheim was replaced by a commercial board from [[3Com]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Sun Workstation product overview|year=1982|url=http://thenetworkisthecomputer.com/files/Sun1Overview001.pdf|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref>

Sun Microsystems had its [[initial public offering]] in 1986 and reached $1 billion in sales by 1988. Bechtolsheim formed a project code-named UniSun around this time to design a small, inexpensive desktop computer for the educational market. The result was the [[SPARCstation 1]] (known as "campus"), the start of another line of Sun products.<ref>{{cite book|title=High noon: the inside story of Scott McNealy and the rise of Sun Microsystems|page=88|author=Karen Southwick|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQl4169IA4kC&pg=PA88|isbn=978-0-471-29713-0}}</ref>

===Other companies===
In 1995, Bechtolsheim left Sun to found Granite Systems, a Gigabit Ethernet startup focused on developing high-speed [[network switch]]es. In 1996, [[Cisco Systems]] acquired the firm for $220 million, with Bechtolsheim owning 60%.<ref>{{cite news|work=Journal of Business Strategy|author=Peter Cohan|title=Lessons from High-Tech Companies|date=November 1997}}</ref> He became vice president and general manager of Cisco's Gigabit Systems Business Unit, until leaving the company in December 2003 to head Kealia, Inc.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thurm |first1=Scott |title=High-Tech Pioneer Leaves Cisco To Return to Start-Up Life |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB107155209276896700 |access-date=16 November 2023 |work=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Comnpany |date=16 December 2003 }}</ref>

Bechtolsheim founded Kealia in early 2001 with Stanford Professor [[David Cheriton]], a partner in Granite Systems, to work on advanced server technologies using the [[Opteron]] processor from [[Advanced Micro Devices]]. In February 2004, Sun Microsystems announced it was acquiring Kealia in a stock swap. Due to the acquisition, Bechtolsheim returned to Sun again as senior vice president and chief architect.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sun to buy Opteron server maker, reclaim co-founder|work= ZDNet|date=11 February 2004|author=Stephen Shankland|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/sun-to-buy-opteron-server-maker-reclaim-co-founder/|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sun Acquires Server Technology Startup|work=eWeek|date=10 February 2004|author=Peter Galli|url=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Sun-Acquires-Server-Technology-Startup|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> Kealia hardware technology was used in the [[Sun Fire X4500]] storage product.<ref name="cloud"/>

Along with Cheriton, in 2005 Bechtolsheim launched another high-speed networking company, Arastra. Arastra later changed its name to [[Arista Networks]]. Bechtolsheim left Sun Microsystems to become the Chairman and Chief Development Officer of Arista in October, 2008, but stated he still was associated with Sun in an advisory role.<ref name="cloud">{{cite news|title=Sun Co-founder Bechtolsheim Joins Cloud Computing Startup|work=eWeek|date=23 October 2008|author=Chris Preimesberger|url=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Sun-CoFounder-Bechtolsheim-Leaves-to-Join-Cloud-Computing-Startup|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref>

===Investments===

Bechtolsheim and Cheriton were two of the first investors in [[Google]], investing [[United States dollar|US$]]100,000 each in September 1998. When he gave the check to [[Lawrence E. Page|Larry Page]] and [[Sergey Brin]], Google's founders, the company had not yet been legally incorporated. Claims that Bechtolsheim coined the name "Google" are untrue. However, he did motivate the founders to officially organize the company under that name.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=If the Check Says 'Google Inc.', We're 'Google Inc.'|magazine=Wired|date=7 September 1998|author=Tony Long|url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/09/dayintech_0907|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501135600/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/09/dayintech_0907|archive-date=1 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Google history|work= About Google Company|url=https://www.google.com/corporate/history.html|access-date=11 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401002313/https://www.google.com/corporate/history.html|archive-date=1 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

As a result of investments like these, Bechtolsheim was seen as one of the most successful "[[angel investor]]s",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/99/0JRL.html|work=Forbes|year=2006|title=Andreas von Bechtolsheim|access-date=13 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522170847/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/99/0JRL.html|archive-date=22 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> particularly in areas such as [[electronic design automation]] (EDA), which refers to the software used by people designing computer chips. He has made a number of successful investments in EDA. In one such EDA company, [[Magma Design Automation]], his stake was valued around $60 million.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} He was an early investor in another EDA start-up company, Co-Design Automation, which developed [[SystemVerilog]] which is used to design almost all digital hardware.

Bechtolsheim invested in [[Tapulous]], the maker of music games for the [[Apple iPhone]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Music Games for iPhone Give Artists New Spotlight |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/technology/start-ups/22tap.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|author= Jenna Wortham|date=21 December 2008|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> Tapulous was acquired by [[the Walt Disney Company]] in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|title=Disney Buys Tapulous, Maker of Video Games for IPads|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-01/disney-buys-tapulous-maker-of-video-games-for-ipads-update1-.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705114650/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-01/disney-buys-tapulous-maker-of-video-games-for-ipads-update1-.html|archive-date=July 5, 2010|work=Bloomberg Businessweek|author=Andy Fixmer and Adam Satariano|date=1 July 2010|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref> He joined George T. Haber, a former colleague at Sun, to invest in wireless chip company CrestaTech in 2006 and 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Programmable Broadband Company:About Us|work=CrestaTech website|url=http://www.crestatech.com/about/index.html|access-date=11 April 2011}}</ref>

Bechtolsheim invested in all of Haber's previous startups:{{citation needed|date= April 2011}} CompCore purchased by [[Zoran Corporation|Zoran]], GigaPixel purchased by [[3Dfx]] and Mobilygen purchased by [[Maxim Integrated Products]] in 2008, as well as  [[Moovweb]], a cloud-based interface for mobile and computer websites in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bechtolsheim-Backed Moovweb Develops Mobile Sites And Smartphone Apps|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/11/04/bechtolsheim-backed-moovweb-develops-mobile-sites-and-smartphone-apps|date=4 November 2009}}</ref>

He was reportedly an early investor in [[Claria Corporation]], which ceased operating in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title= Barbarians at the Digital Gate|newspaper=The New York Times|author= Timothy L. O'Brien and Saul Hansell|date=20 September 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20040920monday.html|access-date=12 April 2011}}</ref> From 2015 to 2017, Bechtolsheim invested in PerimeterX, an automated attack mitigation [[SaaS]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Daniel|first1=Robert|title=PerimeterX, providing defense against automated attacks, launches anti-bot service|url=https://www.pehub.com/2016/04/3325333/|website=The PE Hub Network|publisher=PE Hub|access-date=8 August 2017}}</ref>

===Awards===
Bechtolsheim received a Smithsonian Leadership Award for Innovation in 1999<ref>{{cite web|title=Past Leadership Award Recipients: 1990–2008|publisher=Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation|year=2008|url=http://www.cwheroes.org/leadership/indexpast.html|access-date=13 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722143938/http://www.cwheroes.org/leadership/indexpast.html|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref> and a Stanford Entrepreneur Company of the year award. He was also elected a member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]] in 2000 for contributions to the design of computer workstations and high-performance network switching.

Bechtolsheim gave the opening keynote speech at the [[International Supercomputing Conference]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|title=An Interview with ISC'09 Keynote Speaker Andy von Bechtolsheim|work=HPCwire|date=21 June 2009|url=http://www.hpcwire.com/specialfeatures/isc09/features/An-Interview-with-ISC09-Keynote-Speaker-Andy-von-Bechtolsheim-48746467.html|access-date=13 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727134208/http://www.hpcwire.com/specialfeatures/isc09/features/An-Interview-with-ISC09-Keynote-Speaker-Andy-von-Bechtolsheim-48746467.html|archive-date=2009-07-27}}</ref>

In 2012, he was voted by IT Pros as the person who contributed most to server innovation in the last 20 years.<ref>{{cite web|author=Tracie Barnes|url=http://www.conferenceconcepts.com/English/Conferences_Summits/Innovation_Leader_Awards.html|title=IT Brand Pulse Networking Innovation Leader Awards|website=Conferenceconcepts.com|access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref>

===SEC settlement===
In 2024, Bechtolsheim settled [[insider trading]] allegations with the [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]] (SEC), in which he agreed to pay a civil penalty of nearly $1 million, and is prohibited from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years. The SEC accused him of misusing confidential knowledge of Cisco's proposed acquisition of Acacia Communications, stating that the illegal option trades netted over $400,000 in profits between his associate and relative, to whom he passed the information.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roush |first=Ty |date=26 March 2024 |title=Billionaire Andreas Bechtolsheim Charged With Insider Trading |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/03/26/billionaire-andreas-bechtolsheim-charged-with-insider-trading/ |work=Forbes}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Despite living most of his life in the US, Bechtolsheim never attempted to acquire US citizenship. He remains a German national.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.com/en/von-bechtolsheim-i-invested-in-google-to-solve-my-own-problem/a-4557608|title=Von Bechtolsheim: I invested in Google to solve my own problem|website=Deutsche Welle|access-date=3 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Moss |first=J. Jennings |date=28 November 2018 |title=Arista's Andy Bechtolsheim carves deep-impact tech career |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2018/11/28/andreas-bechtolsheim-arista-sun-cisco.html |publisher=American City Business Journals}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=From the Valley of Heart's Delight to the Silicon Valley: A Study of Stanford University's Role in the Transformation|author=Carolyn Tajnai|publisher=Stanford University, Department of Computer Science|year=1996|url=http://i.stanford.edu/pub/cstr/reports/csl/tr/97/713/CSL-TR-97-713.pdf|access-date=25 December 2023}}
*{{cite book|title=unburst: the ascent of Sun Microsystems|author1=Mark Hall|author2=John Barry|publisher=Contemporary Books|year=1990|isbn=978-0-8092-4368-6|url=https://archive.org/details/sunburstascentof00hall}}

==External links==
*{{cite web|title=Odysseys in Technology: Sun Founders Panel |publisher=[[Computer History Museum]] |date=11 January 2006 |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1120598654 |access-date=13 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420215435/http://www.computerhistory.org/events/index.php?id=1120598654 |archive-date=20 April 2011 }}
* {{cite web|title=SUN display|publisher=[[Stanford University]]|date=January 2001|url=http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/SUN.htm|access-date=13 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420213129/http://infolab.stanford.edu/pub/voy/museum/pictures/display/SUN.htm|archive-date=20 April 2011|url-status=live}}
* [http://www.stern.de/computer-technik/technik/:Andreas-Bechtolsheim-Vom-Bodensee-Silicon-Valley/621633.html Andreas von Bechtolsheim: Vom Bodensee nach Silicon Valley], Stern.de {{in lang|de}}

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{{Sun Microsystems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bechtolsheim, Andy}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German billionaires]]
[[Category:German computer scientists]]
[[Category:German electrical engineers]]
[[Category:German investors]]
[[Category:Businesspeople in software]]
[[Category:Carnegie Mellon University alumni]]
[[Category:Electronic design automation people]]
[[Category:German expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Stanford University School of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Silicon Valley people]]
[[Category:Studienstiftung alumni]]
[[Category:Sun Microsystems people]]
[[Category:Technical University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Augsburg]]
[[Category:Engineers from Bavaria]]
[[Category:20th-century German businesspeople]]
[[Category:21st-century German businesspeople]]