Award for Red Hat chairman

Matthew Szulik, CEO of Red Hat from 1998 until late 2007 and now chairman of its supervisory board, has been honoured by the Ernst & Young business consultancy as the US Entrepreneur of the Year for 2008. He has also received an award as Entrepreneur of the Year in the Technology category.

Ernst & Young says the prize recognizes Szulik's success in turning Red Hat "from what some called a questionable idea into a billion-dollar business". It praises him for having made open source software popular in the market and developing it into a business model, making Red Hat the only profitable open source firm.

(djwm)