""We are well north now of the financial minimums needed for an IPO," he tells The Register during the Ubuntu 25.10 Summit at Canonical's headquarters. However, the open source veteran emphasizes the real barrier is operational readiness rather than revenue, product, or technical milestones. "I am very calmly of the view that we should be a public company, but also very calmly of the view that there's no need to do it when we're not mature enough.""
""Shuttleworth is against going public "with our trousers around our ankles," citing market volatility and the need for company confidence before subjecting the business to public scrutiny. He's not wrong. Canonical has maintained steady profitability and growth during the multiple years since its long-rumored but never materialized IPO plans. Unlike many company founders, whose goal from day one is to gather up multiple rounds of VC funding and then cash out as a unicorn as fast as humanly possible,""
"Armed with around $575 million after selling Thawte to VeriSign in 1999 - and after paying $20 million for a space flight before SpaceX and Blue Origin made civilian space travel almost commonplace for the multimillionaire set - Shuttleworth's substantial backing has allowed Canonical to operate without the usual multiple VC-led rounds. He's kept doing this because he remains passionate about both Linux and open source software."
Canonical meets and exceeds the financial thresholds needed for an IPO, but operational readiness and corporate maturity are the deciding factors for timing. Mark Shuttleworth prefers delaying a public offering until the company can withstand public scrutiny and market volatility. Canonical has sustained steady profitability and growth and avoided multiple VC funding rounds through Shuttleworth's personal investment. He used proceeds from selling Thawte and significant personal funds to finance the company. The company continues heavy investment in R&D and global hiring, building a team of nearly 1,400 employees, about 900 in technical roles, with remaining staff in support and commercial operations.
Read at Theregister
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