Andrew Kay

{{Short description|American computer businessman (1919–2014)}}

{{for|the Scottish academic surgeon|Andrew Watt Kay}}

{{More footnotes|date=September 2014}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Andrew Kay

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| birth_name = Andrew F. Kay

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|01|22}}

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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|08|28|1919|01|22}}

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| other_names = Andy

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| spouse = Mary[https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8EAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Non-Linear+Systems%22+Andrew+Kay&pg=PA20 Tech Street: Kaypro Hunkers Down] By John Gantz, InfoWorld, 20 Aug 1984, Page 20, ...Andrew Kay...called his sons, David and Allen, into the business; he got his wife Mary, and father, Frank, to help out too...

| children = 4

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Andrew F. Kay (January 22, 1919 – August 28, 2014) was a businessman and innovator. He was President and CEO of Kaypro, a personal computer company, which at one time was the world's fourth largest manufacturer of computers, and the largest in the world in sales of portable computers.{{cite news|last1=Markoff|first1=John|title=Andrew Kay, Pioneer in Computing, Dies at 95|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/andrew-kay-pioneer-in-computing-dies-at-95.html|work=New York Times|date=September 5, 2014}}

Kay, a 1940 graduate of MIT, started his career with Bendix followed by two years at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1952, Kay founded Non-Linear Systems, a manufacturer of digital instrumentation. NLS developed a reputation for providing rugged durability in critical applications for everything from submarines to spacecraft. At NLS he invented the digital voltmeter, in 1952.

He founded Kaypro Corporation as a subsidiary of NLS in 1982, to sell computers.{{Cite web |last=Freeman |first=Mike |date=3 September 2014 |title=Computer pioneer Andrew Kay dies at 95 |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/technology/sdut-andrew-kay-mit-kaypro-computers-pioneer-2014sep03-story.html |access-date=17 October 2023 |website=The San Diego Union-Tribune}} In 1985, it had more than $120 million in revenue, dwarfing what had been its parent, NLS. But the company's success was relatively short-lived; in 1990 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and it was liquidated in 1992.

In the late 1990s, Kay founded Kay Computers, which similarly manufactured and sold personal computers. The company lasted for less than ten years.

Kay later was a Senior Business Advisor to Accelerated Composites, LLC. {{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

He co-founded the Rotary Club of Del Mar, California.

Andrew Kay died at age 95 in August of 2014.