Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth says the company is financially ready for an IPO but will delay going public to strengthen its open source foundation and ensure operational maturity amid volatile global markets.
Canonical CEO and Founder Mark Shuttleworth has confirmed that an initial public offering is a matter of “when, not if,” but insists the company will not rush into it. “We are well north now of the financial minimums needed for an IPO,” he said, adding that the decision hinges on operational maturity, not financial thresholds.
“I am very calmly of the view that we should be a public company, but also very calmly of the view that there’s no need to do it when we’re not mature enough.”
Rejecting the idea of going public amid market turbulence, Shuttleworth quipped, “We’re not going to go public with our trousers around our ankles.” Despite shelving IPO plans, Canonical continues to post steady profitability and growth.
The company employs around 1,400 people across 80 countries, with two-thirds dedicated to R&D, well above industry norms. “A typical organisation would be about a third R&D. We’re two-thirds R&D,” he said.
Shuttleworth envisions Canonical as a global open source enabler that transcends political and technological boundaries. “We’re still very much investing in broadening the base of open source that we can support,” he noted. Calling open source a universal connector, he added, “I want to represent what open source can do on a universal basis.”
He remains optimistic about Linux’s desktop potential, praising System76’s COSMIC desktop and reaffirming GNOME’s place in Ubuntu 26.04. “If we want Linux to be a true global alternative, we need to do something that has a lot of heft behind it,” he said. “I would like to be part of open source winning the desktop… Maybe this is the moment.”
