Andy Bechtolsheim
German engineer who co-founded Sun Microsystems and wrote Google’s first cheque
- Age
- 71 yrs
- Birthday in 328 days
- Works listed
- 1
- Computer design
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 3
- 0 followers
Andy Bechtolsheim is a German electrical engineer who designed the first Sun workstation and co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982. In 1998 he wrote a $100,000 cheque to “Google Inc.” before the company even existed. He later co-founded the networking company Arista Networks.
Biography
Background
Bechtolsheim grew up in Bavaria and won a national science prize as a teenager. He studied at the Technical University of Munich and Carnegie Mellon, then went to Stanford for a PhD.
Sun
At Stanford he designed the SUN workstation (Stanford University Network). In 1982 he co-founded Sun Microsystems to sell it, serving as chief hardware designer.
In August 1998, after a demonstration by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, he wrote a $100,000 cheque, helping launch Google.
Networking
He founded Granite Systems (sold to Cisco) and co-founded Arista Networks in 2004, which makes high-speed switches for cloud data centres.
Timeline
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1955
Born in Hängeberg am Ammersee, West Germany
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1982
Co-founds Sun
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1995
Founds Granite Systems
-
1996
Cisco buys Granite
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1998
Invests in Google
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2004
Co-founds Arista Networks
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2014
Arista IPO
Notable works
-
1981
SUN workstation Computer design
Did you know?
-
1
Google had to set up a bank account to cash his cheque.
-
2
He comes from an old German noble family.
-
3
He holds dozens of patents.
Connections
Frequently asked
Who is Andy Bechtolsheim?
Andy Bechtolsheim is a German electrical engineer who designed the first Sun workstation and co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982. In 1998 he wrote a $100,000 cheque to “Google Inc.” before the company even existed. He later co-founded the networking company Arista Networks.
How old is Andy Bechtolsheim?
Andy Bechtolsheim is 71 years old, born on 30 September 1955 in Hängeberg am Ammersee, West Germany.
Where is Andy Bechtolsheim from?
Andy Bechtolsheim was born in Hängeberg am Ammersee, West Germany.
What is Andy Bechtolsheim known for?
Andy Bechtolsheim is best known for Designing the Sun workstation; co-founding Sun and Arista Networks; first investor in Google.
References
- Andy Bechtolsheim — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Andy Bechtolsheim (Q65344) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Andy Bechtolsheim”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Andy Bechtolsheim.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/andy-bechtolsheim
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