Ray Tomlinson
Inventors & Discoverers

Ray Tomlinson Net Worth

Raymond Tomlinson was an American computer programmer who is widely credited as the inventor of the email. He implemented the first email program on the ARPANET system in the early 1970s and is known for inventing the usage of the "@" sign to separate the user name from the name of their machine. Born in Amsterdam, New York, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology for his bachelor's and master's degrees respectively. He then took up a job with Bolt Beranek and Newman (now Raytheon BBN Technologies) where he created a program to send messages to other users of a time-sharing computer. Following his death in 2016, a controversy erupted over who actually invented the email, but it is widely accepted that it was Tomlinson who innovated the usage of the “@” sign.
Ray Tomlinson is a member of Inventors & Discoverers

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Inventor of the First Email System
Birth Day April 23, 1941
Birth Place Amsterdam, New York, U.S., United States
Age 79 YEARS OLD
Died On March 5, 2016(2016-03-05) (aged 74)\nLincoln, Massachusetts, U.S.
Birth Sign Taurus
Alma mater Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation Computer programmer, inventor, electrical engineer
Known for Invented the first email system

💰 Net worth

Ray Tomlinson, who is widely recognized as the inventor of the first email system in the United States, holds an estimated net worth ranging from $100,000 to $1 million in 2024. His groundbreaking contribution revolutionized communication and played a pivotal role in shaping the digital landscape we inhabit today. Tomlinson's invention of the email system has allowed people from all corners of the globe to connect and exchange information instantly. His entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity have made a significant impact on the way we communicate, and his net worth is a testament to the importance and significance of his pioneering work.

Biography/Timeline

1963

Tomlinson was born in Amsterdam, New York, but his family soon moved to the small, unincorporated village of Vail Mills, Broadalbin, New York. He attended Broadalbin Central School in nearby Broadalbin, New York. Later he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York where he participated in the co-op program with IBM. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from RPI in 1963.

1965

After graduating from RPI, he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to continue his electrical engineering education. At MIT, Tomlinson worked in the Speech Communication Group and developed an analog-digital Hybrid speech synthesizer as the subject of his thesis for the master's degree in electrical engineering, which he received in 1965.

1967

In 1967 he joined the Technology company of Bolt, Beranek and Newman (now BBN Technologies), where he helped develop the TENEX operating system including the ARPANET Network Control Program, implementations of Telnet, and implementations on the self-replicating programs Creeper and Reaper. He wrote a file transfer program called CPYNET to transfer files through the ARPANET. Tomlinson was asked to change a program called SNDMSG, which sent messages to other users of a time-sharing computer, to run on TENEX. He added code he took from CPYNET to SNDMSG so messages could be sent to users on other computers—the first email.

2010

Tomlinson said he preferred "email" over "e-mail", joking in a 2010 interview that "I'm simply trying to conserve the world's supply of hyphens" and that "the term has been in use long enough to drop the hyphen".

2016

Tomlinson died at his home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, on March 5, 2016, from a heart attack. He was 74 years old.

Some Ray Tomlinson images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.