DigiKey Corporation (formerly written as Digi-Key) is an American electronic components distributor. The company was founded in 1972 by

Ronald Stordahl Ronald Arthur Stordahl is the founder of electronic component distributor Digi-Key Electronics, located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. He previously served as chief executive officer but is now member of the board. Early life Ronald was born ...

. DigiKey is the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America and the fifth largest electronic component distributor overall. Stordahl privately owns the company. The name "Digi-Key" is a reference to the "Digi-Keyer Kit," a digital electronic keyer kit that Stordahl developed and marketed to

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

enthusiasts. Electrical schematics for the electronic keyer were published in April 1968 by the radio publication QST.

History

After earning a degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

returned to his hometown of

Thief River Falls, Minnesota Thief River Falls, sometimes abbreviated as TRF, is a city and county seat of Pennington County in the northwest portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 8,749 at the 2020 census. History Thief River Falls takes its name fro ...

, where he took up

ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communi ...

in the early 1970s. Stordahl created a kit of electronic parts to improve the transmission of

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

over his radio. He soon began selling kits to other ham operators, and eventually branched off into the distribution of other electronic components, allowing customers to purchase parts in any quantity, no matter how small. The company quickly grew, and by 1984, it was located in a one million square foot facility next door to

Arctic Cat Arctic Cat is an American brand that makes snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles (ATV's) manufactured in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The company was formed in 1960. Arctic Cat designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets all-terrain vehicle ...

, a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

manufacturer. In 1996, DigiKey launched its website, gradually shifting focus towards

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

. The first international domain was launched in 1996 in Canada. This would later expand to over 40 local domains. Digi-Key logo

Mark Larson, who joined DigiKey in 1976 as its general manager, became president in 1985. He has led the company from its initial focus on the hobbyist market to the expanded market it serves today. In 2015 Larson stepped down from his role within the company and transitioned to a board position. On June 1, 2015 Dave Doherty, who served as the Executive Vice President of Operations at Digi-Key, transitioned to Larson's position as President and Chief Operating Officer. DigiKey continued to grow following the recession in 2008. By 2017, DigiKey was located in a single, centralized location in Thief River Falls, Minnesota that measured . In 2017 the company began work on a one million square foot expansion to their Thief River Falls facility at an expected cost of $200 million to $300 million. The expansion was helped by government incentives and tax exemptions and was expected to add another 1,000 jobs at Digi-Key. By 2018, the company had annual revenue of $2.3 billion and more than 3,500 employees. In March 2018, DigiKey announced an expansion for a 1 million square foot building with over 2.2 million square feet of usable space. This space will include receiving, shipping, warehouse, and storage space for the nearly 1.5 million products ready for immediate shipment. The building was officially opened on August 17, 2022. On September 29, 2021, DigiKey announced a global distribution partnership with QuickLogic Corporation, a fabless semiconductor company. In November 2022, DigiKey was granted their first patent for a 'tray for transporting and storing electronic components' (U.S. Patent No
USD968957S1)
During the summer of 2023, DigiKey celebrated their 50th anniversary, an event which was delayed the previous year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In April of 2025, Teri Ivaniszyn of Digi-Key says "I wake up in cold sweats about tariffs" when interviewed by NPR regarding the current tariff situation.

History

See also

References

Further reading