 | |
| Formerly | VA Research (1993–1999) VA Linux Systems (1999–2001) VA Software (2001–2007) SourceForge (2007–2009) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Online media Retail |
| Founded | November 1993; 31 years ago (1993-11)[1] |
| Founder | Larry Augustin[2] & James Vera (VA Research) |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | Kathryn McCarthy (CEO) |
| Parent | GameStop (2015–present) |
Geeknet, Inc. is an American company that is a subsidiary ofGameStop based inFairfax County, Virginia.[3] The company was formerly known asVA Research,VA Linux Systems,VA Software, andSourceForge, Inc.[1]
VA Research was founded in November 1993[1] byStanford University graduate studentLarry Augustin and James Vera. Augustin was a Stanford colleague ofJerry Yang andDavid Filo, the founders ofYahoo!.[4] VA Research started to build and sellpersonal computer systems installed with theLinuxoperating system, as an alternative to more expensiveUnix workstations that were available at the time.[5] During its initial years of operation, the business was profitable and grew quickly, with over $100 million in sales and a 10% profit margin in 1998. It was the vendor of pre-installed Linux computers, with approximately 20% of the Linux hardware market.[5]
In October 1998, the company received investments of $5.4 million fromIntel andSequoia Capital.[6]
In March and April 1999, VA Research purchasedEnlightenment Solutions, marketing companyElectric Lichen L.L.C., and VA's top competitor,Linux Hardware Solutions.[5] That year, VA Research also won a business-plan competition for the right to operate thelinux.com domain.[4] In May 1999, VA created aLinux Labs division, hiring former linux.com domain holder and programmer Fred van Kempen, and programmersJon "maddog" Hall, Geoff "Mandrake" Harrison, Jeremy Allison, Richard Morrell (who would later createSmoothwall as a project at VA Linux) and San "nettwerk" Mehat.[4] In the summer of 1999, programmersTony Guntharp, Uriah Welcome, Tim Perdue and Drew Streib began designing and developingSourceForge. SourceForge was released to the public atComdex on November 17, 1999. VA began porting Linux to the newIA-64 processor architecture in earnest. Intel and Sequoia, along withSilicon Graphics and other investors, added an additional $25 million investment in June 1999.[6]
The company's customers includedAkamai Technologies andeToys.[7]
The company changed its name to VA Linux Systems. On December 9, 1999, the company became apublic company via aninitial public offering. The company raised $132 million, offering shares at $30/share, but the shares opened for trading at $299/share, before closing at $239.25/share, or 698% above the IPO price, breaking a record for the largest first day gain.[8][9][10][11][12] Larry Augustin, the 38-year old founder and chief executive officer of the company, became a billionaire on paper and a 26-year old web developer at the company said she was worth $10 million on paper.[2] By August 2000, the shares were trading at $40 each[2] and only 24mutual funds held the stock.[13] On December 8, 2000, one year later, after the bursting of thedot com bubble, shares traded at $8.49/share.[14] In January 2001, the stock traded at $7.13/share.[2] By December 2002, it was worth just $1.19/share.[9]
On February 3, 2000, the company announced that it was acquiring Andover.net for $800 million, a month after it became a public company.[15][16][17] This acquisition gave VA Linux popular online media properties such asSlashdot, Andover News Network,Freshmeat, NewsForge (became a mirror oflinux.com in 2007, mirrors geeknet.com since 2010), linux.com,ThinkGeek, and a variety of online software development resources. With this acquisition came a stable of writers such asRob Malda, Robin Miller (Roblimo), Jack Bryar, Rod Amis,Jon Katz, and "CowboyNeal". The acquisition eventually allowed the company to shift its business model from Linux-based product sales to specialty media and software development support.
In September 2000, in partnership withSumitomo Corporation, the company created a Japanese subsidiary, VA Linux Systems Japan KK, to promote Linux systems in Japan.[18][19]
The company's sales grew to $17.7 million in 1999, up from $5.5 million in fiscal 1998.[20] In fiscal 2000, the company's sales were $120.3 million.[21]
By 2001, VA Linux's original equipment and systems business model encountered stiff competition from other hardware vendors, such asDell, that now offered Linux as a pre-installed operating system.
On June 26, 2001, VA Linux decided that it would leave the systems-hardware business and focus on software development.[22][23] During the summer of 2001, all 153 of the hardware-focused employees were dismissed as a result of this shift in the company's business model.[24][25][26][27]
On December 6, 2001, the company formally changed its name toVA Software, recognizing that the majority of the business was now software development and specialty news and information services.[28] However, the company'sJapanese subsidiary still uses the name "VA Linux Systems Japan K.K."
On January 2, 2002, the company's stock price plunged 42% after an earnings warning.[29]
In December 2003, VA Software marketed a proprietarySourceForge Enterprise Edition, re-written inJava foroffshore outsourcing software development.[30]
By April 2004, the company focused on SourceForge, an online software application, andOSDN, a group of websites catering to people in the information technology and software development industries, which was renamed toOpen Source Technology Group (OSTG). At that time, the stock was trading at $1.94/share.[31]
In January 2006, VA Software sold Animation Factory toJupitermedia Corporation.[32]
On April 24, 2007, the company sold SourceForge Enterprise Edition to CollabNet.[33][34]
On May 24, 2007, VA Software changed its name to SourceForge Inc. and merged with OSTG.[35][36]
On January 5, 2009,Scott Kauffman was appointed president and chief executive officer of SourceForge.[37]
In November 2009, SourceForge, Inc. changed its name to Geeknet, Inc.[38]
Geeknet president and chief executive officer Scott Kauffman resigned on August 4, 2010, and was replaced by executive chairmanKenneth Langone and the company changed itsticker symbol to GKNT.[39]
On August 10, 2010, Jason Baird, the chief operations officer, and Michael Rudolph, the chief marketing officer resigned, both effective 31 August 2010. Jay Seirmarco, the chief technology officer also resigned, effective September 30, 2010.
Effective January 31, 2011, Geeknet appointed Matthew C. Blank, former chief executive officer and chairman of Showtime Networks as a member of its board of directors.[40]
Later in 2011, the company renamed its Freshmeat website toFreecode.[41]
In September 2012, Slashdot, SourceForge, and Freecode were sold toDice Holdings for $20 million, leavingThinkGeek as the sole property of Geeknet.[42][43][44]
On May 26, 2015, it was announced that pop culture-oriented retailerHot Topic had made an offer to acquire Geeknet for $17.50 per-share, valuing the company at $122 million.[45][46][47] However, on May 29, 2015, it was revealed that an unspecified company had made a counter-offer of $20 per-share; Hot Topic was given until June 1, 2015, to exceed this new offer.[48][49] On June 2, 2015, it was announced that video game retail chainGameStop would acquire Geeknet for $140 million, paying $20 per share.[50][51][52] The deal closed on July 17, 2015.[3]
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