A decision hasn't been made yet regarding the IPO

May 22, 2015 11:15 GMT  ·  By

Canonical and Ubuntu have been around for more than a decade, but not everyone knows that the company is privately owned and not publicly listed. It looks like Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Canonical, might consider filing for an IPO, which means making the company public.

The desktop flavor of Ubuntu has never been a profitable business, despite all kinds of tricks Canonical tried, like the implementation of an Amazon app or online connectivity for HUD searches. On the other hand, Canonical is not all about the Ubuntu desktop. They also have a huge presence in the server market, and they have already conquered OpenStack.

In fact, according to the latest interview with Mark Shuttleworth, the OpenStack part of the business is already profitable, but it's impossible to know by what margin. In any case, a decision like the public listing of a company is a difficult one, and it can also have negative effects.

Mark Shuttleworth is thinking about it, hasn't decided just yet

Before getting too excited about this information, please keep in mind that it comes from only one source, an article on ZDNet. There is no reason to believe that it might not be true, but it's impossible to say for sure without any collaboration from other sources or the source. It's marked as exclusive it's understandable why there isn't anything listed as the source.

From the looks of it, Mark Shuttleworth and his team from Canonical have been toying with the idea for a few months already, but they haven't reached any conclusion yet. On the other hand, Mark has made hundreds of millions from all his previous business, but not from this one.

Going public also means that you no longer have full control of your company, and Mark could have a hard time imposing his view when the shareholders don't agree. All the money that would be gained from an IPO will come with strings attached, and this is just one.

We'll keep you apprised if any more information is revealed regarding Canonical's IPO.