Andy Price (executive)

In a background information sheet he completed for a 2024 charter school application, he wrote that he attended Rice UniversityRice UniversityRice University is a university in Houston, Texas, United States, established with the fortune of William Marsh Rice (1816–1900).Open the full entry from 1992 to 1996 and earned a BS/BA in electrical engineering and computer science.⁠[1]

Jeremy SternJeremy SternJeremy Stern is a journalist, editor and podcast host. As editor-in-chief of Colossus, he writes long-form profiles of technology entrepreneurs and investors. He previously served in the U.S. Army, worked as a senior State Department adviser and held editorial roles at Tablet.Open the full entry’s long article in ColossusColossusColossus is a business and investing media company founded by Patrick O’Shaughnessy in 2020. It publishes podcasts, digital journalism and a print magazine, including Invest Like the Best, Business Breakdowns and programs made with independent creators.Open the full entry calls him “a techie” and writes that he had been working at Trilogy Software since he was 16.⁠[2]

The same background information sheet gives his employment as chief financial officer of Trilogy Enterprises, Inc. from May 1996, and says he has served as an external director on the boards of various technology companies. In the sheet he wrote that he was excited to join the school board as treasurer and committed to the school’s financial health and sustainability, and pointed to his background in financial planning and operational efficiency.⁠[1]

His LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry experience section instead records 30 years at Trilogy: developer from May 1996 to December 1999, director of technical delivery from 2000 to 2002, product manager for automotive demand intelligence in 2003, director of automotive product management from 2004 to 2008, vice president of finance from January 2009 to October 2011, and chief financial officer from November 2011.⁠[3]

Colossus writes that when MacKenzie Price joined Trilogy Software in 1998, her first day was at Trilogy University, the company’s training program, where she was assigned to a supervisor, the chief financial officer Andy Price.⁠[2]

In 2004 he married MacKenzie Price, with Joe Liemandt as best man at the wedding. Colossus writes that the two families stayed close afterwards: the Liemandts and the Prices each had two daughters, who grew up together.⁠[2]

Schedule I of a 2017 tender offer document lists him as chief financial officer of ESW Capital since 2011, secretary and chief financial officer of Trilogy, Inc., a software company affiliated with ESW, since 2011, and director and chief financial officer of Aurea Software, Inc., a software company affiliated with ESW, since 2012; everyone listed in Schedule I is a U.S.United StatesThe United States is a federal country in North America made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia as the seat of government, and territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam; its capital is Washington, D.C. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted a resident population of 331,449,281, and the 435 seats of the House of Representatives are apportioned among the states on the basis of the census.Open the full entry citizen with a business address in Austin.⁠[4]

His LinkedIn profile records that he has been chief financial officer of ESW Capital, LLC since November 2011 and of Ignite Technologies (IgniteTech) since June 2013, based in Austin.⁠[3]

On May 4, 2015, ESW Capital issued an equity commitment letter to LY Acquisition Corp., committing to buy at least $16.5 million of that company’s debt securities, with the proceeds to be used only for payments due under the merger agreement for the acquisition of Lyris, Inc.; he signed the letter as ESW Capital’s CFO, and also signed LY Acquisition Corp.’s acceptance block as its CFO.⁠[5]

On June 23, 2015, ESW Capital, Joe Liemandt and Acorn Performance Group, Inc. jointly filed a Schedule 13D on the common stock of Upland Software, Inc., reporting that ESW Capital and Liemandt may each be deemed to beneficially own 3,399,336 shares, about 22.2%; he signed as chief financial officer of ESW Capital, as chief financial officer of Acorn Performance Group and as attorney-in-fact for Liemandt.⁠[6]

In his 2024 background information sheet he listed his not-for-profit experience as director of Ride Share Austin from 2016 to 2023, and cited it when stating his intention to serve on the school board.⁠[1]

On May 12, 2017, Jazz MergerSub, Inc. made an offer to purchase for cash all outstanding shares of Jive Software, Inc. Schedule I of the offer document lists him as director and financial officer of Wave Systems Corp., the purchaser’s parent, since August 2016, as director, president, chief financial officer and secretary of Jazz MergerSub, Inc. since April 2017, and as chief financial officer among the guarantor’s executive officers.⁠[4]

The Schedule 13D filed by ESW Capital and Joe Liemandt on the common stock of BroadVision, Inc. gives September 18, 2019, as the date of the event requiring the filing and is dated September 26, 2019; the cover page names him as the person to receive notices, and he signed as chief financial officer of ESW Capital and as attorney-in-fact for Liemandt.⁠[7]

The Texas Observer writes that TransparencyUSA data show he gave $20,000 to Save Austin Now, a pro-police political action committee, in 2021, the only political donation of his the magazine identified; it adds that Liemandt sent two $25,000 donations to the group within a week of his.⁠[8]

ProPublicaProPublicaProPublica is an independent, nonprofit investigative newsroom based in New York, announced in October 2007 and operating from 2008, whose stated mission is to expose abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust; it had won nine Pulitzer Prizes by 2026.Open the full entry and The Texas Tribune wrote on September 2, 2026, that at least two state education boards took issue with Alpha’s plan to keep MacKenzie Price and her husband on the charter’s oversight board while the schools paid the Prices’ companies for services; in ArizonaArizonaArizona is a state in the southwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, as the 48th state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 7,151,502.Open the full entry, the only state to approve the Alpha-affiliated charter, Andy Price said in 2024 that they were “fully committed to having a majority board of 100% independent Arizona folks by the end of this year.”⁠[9]

Unbound Academy’s new charter school application to UtahUtahUtah is a U.S. state bordered by Idaho to the north, Wyoming to the northeast, Colorado to the east, Arizona to the south and Nevada to the west, with its capital at Salt Lake City. It was admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896, as the 45th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 3,271,616 residents.Open the full entry (applicant entity Unbound Academic Institute (UT), Inc.) names him as its authorized agent, and the board table lists him as treasurer with finance as his area of expertise. The application states that three of the directors, Stefanie Baduria, Andrew Price and MacKenzie Price, are affiliated with 2hr Learning, Inc., and that the board will transition to a majority of unaffiliated voting directors by the end of 2024.⁠[1]

The minutes of the board meeting of June 27, 2024, attached to the application, record that he attended as treasurer, stressed during the bylaws discussion the importance of a robust governance framework to ensure accountability and transparency, and presented the articles of incorporation needed to establish the nonprofit legally; the board unanimously approved both the bylaws and the articles. The “Minutes Approved By” line at the end of the minutes gives his name with the title “Treasurer & Director.”⁠[1]

Spotlight PA wrote on January 24, 2025, that Unbound Academy had applied to open a cyber charter school in PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaPennsylvania (officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States; its capital is Harrisburg, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are its two great metropolitan areas. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787, the second state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 13,002,700.Open the full entry and that one of its founders, Andrew Price, is married to MacKenzie Price, the head of 2 Hour Learning; the application showed that Trilogy Enterprises would handle the school’s financial services and receive up to $350,000, and that Unbound would pay 2 Hour Learning $2.75 million over the first year. An update to the article on January 29 says the Pennsylvania Department of Education rejected the application.⁠[10]

The report by Lexi Churchill, published jointly by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, says that MacKenzie Price and her husband, Andy Price, personally gave more than $2 million, before and after TexasTexasTexas is a U.S. state in the south-central United States, with its capital at Austin and its largest city Houston. It was admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 29,145,505 residents.Open the full entry’s voucher program was approved, to Texas legislators and political action committees that helped pass and oversee it; Andy Price gave more than $250,000 to a political action committee that helped elect pro-voucher candidates.⁠[9]

The report says the Prices acknowledged the conflict of interest and repeatedly promised to correct it, yet board minutes show that MacKenzie and Andy Price were still serving on the charter’s board as recently as that June; none of the Alpha leaders named in the story agreed to be interviewed.⁠[9]

He and his wife, MacKenzie Price, live in Austin.⁠[9]

Speaking about Liemandt in an Ed on the Edge interview released on July 9, 2026, MacKenzie Price said: “My husband and he are best friends and have been for many years.”⁠[11]

Colossus writes that Liemandt was at first unwilling to send his daughters to MacKenzie Price’s school and that two things changed his mind, the first of which happened one night when Liemandt and Andy Price took their daughters out to dinner.⁠[2]

In securities ownership filings made jointly by ESW Capital and Joe Liemandt, he has repeatedly signed on Liemandt’s behalf as his attorney-in-fact.⁠[6][7]

The Texas Observer writes that Future of Education LLC, one day after its incorporation in DelawareDelawareDelaware is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic region on the East Coast, with its capital at Dover and Wilmington as its largest city. On December 7, 1787, it became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, entering the Union as the 1st state, and it had a population of 989,948 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, gave $1 million on May 26 to Spirit of Virginia, the committee affiliated with then-Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin; the address listed for the company on the VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry public record of the donation is a home that Travis County records show is owned by Andrew Price and his wife, MacKenzie Price; and the attorney who acted as its incorporator had previously represented Andrew Price in a 2023 asset purchase in which a Trilogy Software employee was on the buyer side. The magazine writes that neither he nor MacKenzie Price has a track record of large political donations, and that no documentation currently ties the donation directly to Liemandt, whom it calls “Andrew Price’s boss.”⁠[8]

ProPublica and The Texas Tribune’s 2026 report also states that a limited liability company called Future of Education, whose incorporation address is the same as the Prices’ home, gave $1 million in 2023 to a campaign committee affiliated with then-Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.⁠[9]

Trilogy Software: Official website: https://www.trilogy.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

ESW Capital: Official website: https://www.eswcapital.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[13]

Aurea Software: Official website: https://www.aurea.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[14]

IgniteTech: Official website: https://ignitetech.ai/ (opens in a new window).⁠[15]

Unbound Academy: Official website: https://www.unbound.school/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

LinkedIn: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewprice3/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3][10]