Forbes: Really Free Software

“Mark Shuttleworth is rich enough to cause some havoc in the
feel-good Linux community. In January 2000, at the peak of the
dot-com bubble, Shuttleworth sold his South African security
software firm, Thawte, to VeriSign for $700 million in stock.
Shuttleworth cashed out almost immediately, walking away with the
entire purchase price, just as VeriSign’s stock began its rapid
descent. ‘Life has been kind to me,’ he says.

“But the 32-year-old has no children and doesn’t feel much need
to hang on to his money. He spent $20 million in 2002 to orbit the
Earth for a week in a Russian Soyuz. ‘I don’t intend to create a
dynasty,’ he says…”

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