Red Hat Inc. is on a roll. Its shares are up more than 50% since Sept. 1. The Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based open source distribution company that certifies, tests and validates open-source operating systems, file systems and directory server software has a market valuation of $4 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.
Company chairman and CEO Matthew Szulik was on stage Wednesday morning, Oct. 26, at the Vortex conference in San Francisco to answer questions author and venture capitalist Geoffrey Moore posed. Despite sharp questioning from Moore, Szulik adroitly dodged most questions. For example, when pressed about the dangers of having indirect contact with many of its customers (since 60% of its software is distributed via Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.), Szulik simply said he doesn't want control over his customers since customers don't want to be controlled.
And when asked what he believes is the single best open-source investment idea right now, he paused for a second, thought about it, then returned to the party line. His answer was Black Duck, a startup in which Red Hat has actually invested. Black Duck's technology analyzes a company's software to identify open-source code that may require vendor licenses. The product then helps users manage their software assets.
It's not the first time this month Szulik has been accused of making self-serving comments. Corporate executives commonly press their agenda. That's what they're supposed to do. But, the less-than-frank discussion rankles a little more than usual in Szulik's case since he bandies about the words "transparency" and "openness" so much. Shareholders, though, don't seem bothered. — Joshua Jaffe
Go to story from CNET News.com
Continue reading below
By the way his family name means "swindler" in russian.