He Sold His Startup, Flew to Space, Then Gave Away an Operating System
He built an internet security company in his parents' garage. He sold it before he turned 27. Then he bought a ticket to space.
In April 2002, a 28 year old from South Africa floated inside the International Space Station.
He was not a trained astronaut. He had paid for the trip with money from a company he built and sold.
His name was Mark Shuttleworth. After coming back to Earth, he did something even bolder: he helped create Ubuntu, a free operating system now used on millions of computers and servers.
A kid from Welkom
Mark Shuttleworth was born in 1973 in Welkom, a mining town in South Africa's Free State province. He grew up in Cape Town.
He studied finance and information systems at the University of Cape Town. He loved the internet and open source software, where anyone can see and improve the code.
Thawte
In 1995, while still a student, Mark founded Thawte, a company that issued digital certificates. These certificates help keep websites secure, like the padlock you see in your browser.
Thawte grew fast. In 1999, the American company VeriSign bought it for $575 million.
The first African in space
Mark trained for months in Russia and the United States. On April 25, 2002, he launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, becoming the first African in space. He spent about eight days there and ran science experiments.
Ubuntu
Back on Earth, Mark wanted to make Linux easy for everyone. In 2004, he founded Canonical and launched Ubuntu, a free version of Linux. The word ubuntu comes from southern Africa and means something like "humanity to others."
Ubuntu came out every six months, looked friendly, and cost nothing. It became one of the most popular Linux systems in the world, used on laptops, cloud servers and even robots.
Where he is now
Today, Mark Shuttleworth leads Canonical as CEO. Canonical supports Ubuntu for businesses and cloud providers and remains privately controlled.
Why the story matters
Mark Shuttleworth's story shows what you can do with success. He used his fortune to chase a childhood dream, space, and to give the world free software.
For young builders, the lesson is simple. Money is a tool. Use it to do things that matter to you and help others.
He reached the stars, then shared the code.
The Record
Born: 1973
From: Welkom, South Africa
Studied: Finance and information systems, University of Cape Town
Built: Thawte, Canonical (Ubuntu)
Timeline
1973 Born in Welkom, South Africa.
1995 Founds Thawte.
1999 Sells Thawte to VeriSign for $575 million.
2002 Flies to the International Space Station.
2004 Founds Canonical and launches Ubuntu.
Today Leads Canonical as CEO.