Kx Systems
Private | |
Industry | Software |
Founded | 1993Palo Alto, California | in
Founders |
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Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, United States |
Number of locations | 14 offices[1] (2018) |
Area served | |
Key people |
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Products | |
Parent | First Derivatives PLC |
Website |
www |
Kx Systems is a data analysis software developer and vendor. Their products include two programming languages, K and Q, and a column-oriented database based on K, in two versions, kdb and kdb+. The languages and the database are used in financial modeling and data analysis by Wall Street investment banks,[3] and energy, telecommunications, government, and other industries.[4]
The company was founded in 1993 by Janet Lustgarten and Arthur Whitney.[5] Whitney is the developer of the K language. In 2014, First Derivatives increased their ownership interest to a 65 percent share of the privately held company as it began expanding its databases to retail, pharmaceuticals, and utilities.[4] Kx Systems is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and has further offices in New York City, England, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.[1][6]
Overview
In 1993, Whitney and Lustgarten joined together to commercialize the K programming platform Whitney had created after building the A+ language and other trading systems at Morgan Stanley.[3][7] The purpose of the software was to access and explore large data volumes in financial services computer systems.[8] Initially, Kx Systems had an exclusive contract with Swiss global financial services firm UBS to provide them with the K language. In 1998, the contract with UBS expired and the firm launched the kdb database. As part of the database, Whitney developed a new language named Q that operates with K and allows the use of English words as functions.[9]
In 1999, the firm reached a marketing agreement with Northern Ireland based, First Derivatives.[10] The agreement would eventually lead to First Derivatives owning a 65 percent share of the firm.[4] Kx Systems opened an office in Manhattan in 2002,[11] offices in Germany and Japan in 2003,[12] and an office in Hong Kong in 2009.[13] In 2014, First Derivatives purchased a 65 percent share of Kx Systems, which began offering its database to other data-driven industries.[4] Kx Systems has also partnered with the equity trading platform, IEX Group Inc., to conduct real-time market surveillance, which can be used to monitor actions such as insider trading.[14]
References
- 1 2 "Kx Systems: Contact Us". Kx Systems. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ↑ Atwood, Alice (December 23, 2015). "Exchange Capacity 'Key Issue'—Kx COO". Futures and Options World. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
- 1 2 "A Conversation with Arthur Whitney". 7 (2). Queue Magazine. February 2009: 12–13. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 Groenfeldt, Tom (December 29, 2014). "Kx Systems Takes Finance Expertise to Other Industries". Forbes. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Company Overview of Kx Systems, Inc". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Kx Systems". CNBC. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Williams, Jenny (June 1, 2014). "Janet Lustgarten, CEO at KX Systems, On Shampoo Apps, Databases and Founding Her Own Company". Computer Weekly. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Dempsey, Michael (February 8, 2015). "What Data Can Tell You About Customers". Raconteur. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Dempster, John. "History of Kdb+/q Database by kx.com". Time Stored. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "In Brief: Kx Systems Signs European Marketing Deal". American Banker. March 19, 1999. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
- ↑ "Kx Systems Opens New York Office". Finextra. October 18, 2002. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Wold, Melanie (February 24, 2003). "Kx Systems Expands to Germany and Japan". Financial News. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Kx Systems Opens Asian Office in Hong Kong, Appoints Burke to Head". Intelligent Trading Technology. February 11, 2009. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "IEX Launches Real-Time Market Surveillance". Markets Media. January 2, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.