Mark is founder of Ubuntu, a popular open source operating system for desktops, servers and smartphones. Ubuntu is beautiful, easy to use and precision engineered for consumers and large-scale enterprise deployments alike. Ubuntu running on smartphones uniquely gives handset OEMs and mobile operators the ability to converge phone, PC and thin client into a single enterprise superphone. Mark leads product strategy at Canonical, which sells commercial support for Ubuntu, mainly to large enterprises and governments who deploy it professionally. Canonical also builds many of the unique elements of Ubuntu for desktop, cloud and server deployments. After graduating from the University of Cape Town with a degree in finance and information technology, Mark founded Thawte, a company specialising in digital certificates and cryptography. When Thawte was acquired in 1999 by VeriSign, and he founded HBD, an investment company, and setup the Shuttleworth Foundation, which funds innovative change in society by supporting Fellows and investing in their projects. In April 2002 he flew in space, as a cosmonaut member of the crew of Soyuz mission TM34 to the International Space Station. After a tour of schools in South Africa promoting science and mathematics for aspiring astronauts he started work on Ubuntu.