17 Facts About Mark Shuttleworth

Mark Richard Shuttleworth was born on 18 September 1973 and is a South African and British entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

In 2002, Shuttleworth became the first African to travel to space, doing so as a space tourist.

Mark Shuttleworth holds dual citizenship from South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Mark Shuttleworth was born in Welkom, Free State, South Africa, to a surgeon and a nursery-school teacher.

Mark Shuttleworth obtained a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Finance and Information Systems at the University of Cape Town.

In 1995, Mark Shuttleworth founded Thawte Consulting, a company specializing in digital certificates and Internet security.

In September 2000, Mark Shuttleworth formed HBD Venture Capital, a business incubator and venture capital provider, now managed by Knife Capital.

In December 2009, Mark Shuttleworth stepped down as CEO of Canonical Ltd.

Mark Shuttleworth returned to the position of CEO of Canonical in July 2017, with Silber moving to Canonical's board of directors.

On 15 October 2006, Mark Shuttleworth became the first patron of KDE, the highest level of commercial sponsorship available.

On 17 December 2009, Mark Shuttleworth announced that, effective March 2010, he would step down as CEO of Canonical to focus on product design, partnerships, and customers.

Mark Shuttleworth later reversed the decision; this feature is not present in current Ubuntu versions.

Mark Shuttleworth gained international attention on 25 April 2002, becoming the second self-funded space tourist and the first South African in space.

Mark Shuttleworth had a radio conversation with Nelson Mandela and a 14-year-old South African girl, Michelle Foster, who asked him to marry her.

Mark Shuttleworth dodged the question, stating that he was "very honoured at the question" before changing the subject.

Mark Shuttleworth owns a private jet, a Bombardier Global Express, often referred to as Canonical One but owned through his HBD Venture Capital company.

Mark Shuttleworth successfully sued the Reserve Bank in the Supreme Court of Appeal to have the levy returned.