Andy Rubin

Andrew E. "Andy" Rubin (born March 13, 1963) is a former engineer of Apple Computer and a co-founder of Android Inc, creator of the Android operating system that was acquired by Google.

Education and personal life
Rubin earned a B.S. in computer science from in 1985. Rubin has been married to Yu-Ling Lu and Rie Hirabaru.

Apple Computer
Rubin joined Apple Computer as a software engineer in August 1989. He was nicknamed "Android" by his co-workers there due to his interest in robotics. He worked on the development of a software-based modem device, implemented in the Apple Express Modem.

After Apple
In February 1992, Rubin joined General Magic to work on Magic Cap for the Motorola. In March 1995, he joined, which was soon acquired by Microsoft. In December 1999, he co-founded, developer of the (also known as the T-Mobile Sidekick), an early smartphone. In 2003, Rubin was sidelined by investors and started work on a new venture outside of Danger to develop a mobile operating system. Danger would be sold in 2008 for a reported 500 million to Microsoft, which rebranded the successor to the Hiptop as the short-lived.

Android and Google
In January 2004, Rubin left Danger permanently for the new venture which became Android Inc. in Palo Alto, California. Like his nickname, the new operating system developed there was named "Android". In 2005, Android was acquired by Google for 50 million. Rubin then joined Google as an executive overseeing the development of Android. Rubin married Rie Hirabaru, a marketing manager at Google, after she became pregnant with his child.

Upon watching the launch webcast of the iPhone in 2007, Rubin reassessed the development of Android, which was described at the time as looking "so … nineties." When Apple CEO Steve Jobs found out about the addition of iPhone-like features to Android, he called a meeting with Google which included Rubin, Google co-founder, and iPhone development chief Scott Forstall. Jobs reportedly criticized Rubin for copying details down to having "the same haircut, the same glasses, the same style" as Jobs. After the contentious meeting, Rubin reportedly hung a sign in his office that read "STEVE JOBS STOLE MY LUNCH MONEY" and briefly considered leaving Google. Rubin remained influential at Google until 2014, when he left the company following an internal investigation into an alleged sex scandal.

After Google
Rubin then founded a new technology startup by the name of Essential, but the company announced in February 2020 that it was shutting down after allegations of his running a "sex ring" became public knowledge through court documents filed by his estranged second wife. Rubin has denied the allegations.