“Internet mania reached new levels of frenzy Thursday as
investors paid huge multiples on an initial public offering, giving
a market value of almost $10 billion to a tiny company with
powerful competitors, little revenue and no expectation of earnings
in the foreseeable future.”
“The company, VA Linux Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., sells
computers powered by standard Intel Pentium processors that run on
Linux, the free Unix-based operating system created by a Finnish
graduate student and now marketed by more than a dozen companies
worldwide. The computers are designed as servers, computers that
deliver Internet products, like Web pages and e-mail, or other
network services.”
“Though giants like Dell Computer and I.B.M. already market
Linux servers of similar power, shares of VA Linux Systems surged
more than eightfold today, setting a record for an initial public
offering.“
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