Cobalt Networks
Cobalt Networks was a maker of low-cost Linux-based servers and server appliances based in Mountain View, California. The company had 1,900 end user customers in more than 70 countries.[1]
 | |
| Founded | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Vivek Mehra |
| Defunct | December 7, 2000 |
| Fate | Acquired by Sun Microsystems |
| Headquarters | Mountain View, California |
| Revenue |  $22 million (1999) |
 -$23 million (1999) | |
| Total assets | $151 million (1999) |
| Total equity | $130 million (1999) |
Number of employees | 140 (1999) |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
During the dot-com bubble, the company had a market capitalization of $6 billion despite only $22 million in annual revenue.
In 2000, the company was acquired by Sun Microsystems and in December 2003, Sun shut down the Cobalt product line.[2]
Cobalt was the most successful web server appliance vendor of its time, and that success motivated the founding of blade server pioneer RLX Technologies.[2]
History
The company was founded in 1996 by Vivek Mehra as Cobalt Microserver. In June 1998, the company changed its name to Cobalt Networks, Inc.[3]
The company introduced products as follows:[1]
| Product | Launch Date |
|---|---|
| Cobalt Qube | March 1998 |
| Cobalt Cache | July 1998 |
| Cobalt RaQ | September 1998 |
| Cobalt NAS | April 1999 |
| Cobalt Management Console | October 1999 |
On November 5, 1999, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. Its stock price rose as much as 618% above its $22/share initial price.[4]
On March 23, 2000, the company announced the acquisition of Chilisoft from Charlie Crystle for 1.15 million shares of Cobalt common stock, then valued at $69.9 million.[5][6]
In September 2000, Sun Microsystems announced the acquisition of the company for $2 billion in stock.[7] The acquisition was completed on December 7, 2000.
Many disgruntled engineers left the company in the months following the acquisition.[8]
In December 2003, Sun shut down the Cobalt product line.[2]
References
- "Commerce One, Inc. 2000 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Vance, Ashlee (December 18, 2003). "Sun drives the final nail in Cobalt's coffin". The Register.
- "Company Overview of Cobalt Networks, Inc". Bloomberg L.P.
- "Cobalt IPO rockets". CNN. November 5, 1999.
- "COBALT NETWORKS IS BUYING CHILISOFT FOR $70 MILLION". The New York Times. Dow Jones & Company. March 24, 2000.
- Uimonen, Terho (March 23, 2000). "Cobalt to Acquire Chili Soft in $70M Deal". Computerworld.
- FISHER, LAWRENCE M. (September 20, 2000). "Sun Microsystems to Acquire Cobalt for $2 Billion in Stock". The New York Times.
- Loney, Matt (January 5, 2004). "How to blow a billion--or two". ZDNet.
