Buy Oracle Stock? What of Their Red Hat Takeover?
Rumors of a Red Hat takeover have been circulating since time immemorial. Maybe this time there's some truth to it.
It all began in 2003: Novell buys financially strapped SuSE Linux AG. But their real target even then was Red Hat. Red Hat didn't want to be bought. Comes 2004 and analysts said "Sun, buy Red Hat!" Even better, the rumors in 2005 flew that Microsoft was interested in the Linux distro.
Ever since Oracle set its Unbreakable Linux course in the fall of 2006, speculators have been laying their bets on a Red Hat purchase. At the time, Oracle's CEO Ralph Ellison said in an interview with the Financial Times that his firm was thinking about buying either Novell or Red Hat, but that Red Hat was hardly in their best interests:
"We see in China and India, all that stuff is freely available and Red Hat is just cut completely out of the market. I’m not gong to spend $5bn, or $6bn, for something that can just be so completely wiped off the map. They take all the Red Hat code, have their own equivalent of the Red Hat network, and Red Hat gets zero."
In 2007 the rumor mill again reported that Oracle was to buy Red Hat. In January 2009 analysts came up with an even better plan: Dell should buy Red Hat. And with every speculation Red Hat's stock rapidly rose.
Analysts' assessments at that time maintained that Oracle should wait until Red Hat's stock dips low enough so that it would be easy to snap up. According to a recent ComputerZeitung analyst, that deal is already in the making, although Oracle would probably prefer to wait until IBM's recent talks with Sun resolve themselves, as reported in the WSJ.
The only source of the rumors seems to be U.S. analyst Katherine Egbert of the Jefferies & Co. investment bank. She recently wrote in a Research Note that it would make sense for Oracle to acquire Red Hat. The Boycott Novell people maintain that she "always gets it wrong on Red Hat." We'll see if she hit the jackpot this time.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.