The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 winner for the United States was announced at a ceremony held at the JW Marriott Resort & Spa in Palm Springs, California on Saturday, 15 November 2008.
Matthew Szulik, 51, Chairman, Red Hat, Inc., was praised for his vision and entrepreneurship in establishing a new paradigm in software and his impact on the global software industry. Szulik was able to make a company successful when others said it couldn’t be done! Szulik is a next generation market leader.
Matthew Szulik joined Red Hat Inc., 1998, when Red Hat was a fledgling magazine publisher. Today, Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of the Linux operating system and open-source software. Szulik is credited with creating the economic model for “free” software. Szulik led Red Hat’s IPO in 1999. Prices shot up to US$312 a share, but the dot-com bubble soon burst. Angry investors sought the company’s liquidation. But Szulik refused to give up! He bet the company on a strategy to compete in the enterprise computing market by offering businesses an alternative to the Microsoft Windows operating system. Red Hat became profitable in 2003 – despite not having a single corporate client the year before. In 2006-2008, Chief Information Officers worldwide rated Red Hat as the number one source of value in enterprise computing – an unprecedented achievement in computing. Two years ago, Microsoft offered millions for Red Hat to abandon its free software model to become Microsoft’s strategic Linux partner. Szulik refused. Szulik has raised over US$1 billion for a company that investors used to laugh at. Today, Red Hat is listed on the NYSE and continues to increase its market share. Its annual revenue grew by more than 30% in 2008 to US$628m.
On winning the Entrepreneur Of The Year award, Matthew Szulik stated that it “was incredibly humbling” and “the internet has become the great equalizer in society. The internet does not know race, religion, or gender. The internet only knows great ideas. Red Hat and open source computing is one of those great ideas for the 21st century.”
On 30 May 2009, Matthew Szulik will join the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year country winners from more than 50 countries around the world in Monte Carlo to be inducted into the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Academy and vie for the title of Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year.
By identifying and recognizing the achievements of outstanding entrepreneurs within successful, growing and dynamic businesses, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award aims to encourage entrepreneurial activity around the world and profile role models to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Read about another Entrepreneur Of The Year 2008 country winner who will represent their nation at this year's World Entrepreneur Of The Year Award.
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