Szulik lauded for vision

Red Hat chairman wins major award

Matthew Szulik, chairman of Red Hat, has received a prominent award for his role in building the Raleigh software developer into a successful business.

Ernst & Young named Szulik its 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year, a national accolade that recognizes executives who lead dynamic, growing companies.

"Matthew Szulik follows a proud tradition of pioneering entrepreneurs who overcame skeptics and brought a novel, seemingly improbable, business idea to market," James S. Turley, chief executive of Ernst & Young, said in a statement.

Szulik joined Red Hat in 1998 and was tasked with turning it into a profitable company.

Red Hat was among the pioneers in the open source industry. It set out to build a business around Linux, a computer operating system similar to Microsoft's Windows. Thing is, the computer code that makes Linux work is free and available to anyone on the Internet.

Szulik found a customer base in corporations, who chose Linux as a cheaper way to run computer servers. He made money selling subscriptions for support and training and branched into new products that use Linux.

Last year, Szulik stepped down as CEO to attend to family health matters. James Whitehurst, a former Delta Air Lines executive, is now CEO of Red Hat.

Among past recipients of the Ernst & Young entrepreneur award are John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, and Isaac Larian, CEO of MGA Entertainment, a toy company best known for its Bratz dolls.

MATTHEW SZULIK

HOMETOWN: New Bedford, Mass.

FAMILY: Wife, Kyle; three children.

CAREER: President of Relativity Technologies in Cary until 1998.

Joined Red Hat as president in 1998. Became CEO in November 1999. In 2002, he took over the chairman title from Red Hat co-founder Bob Young.

He stepped down as CEO last year but remains chairman at least until Feb. 28, 2009, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.