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Darl McBride

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Darl McBride
Born
Darl McBride

(1959-11-24)24 November 1959
Mesa, Arizona
DiedSeptember 16, 2024(2024-09-16) (aged 64)
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materBrigham Young University (B.S.)
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (Master's degree)
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forCEO of Shout, former CEO of SCO Group
SpouseAndrea Kimball McBride
Children7
Websitedarlmcbride.com

Darl Charles McBride (24 November 1959 – 16 September 2024) was an entrepreneur and CEO of Shout TV Inc. McBride was known as the former CEO of The SCO Group. On March 7, 2003, during McBride's tenure as CEO of the company, The SCO Group initiated litigation (SCO v. IBM) against IBM, alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement claims connected to Unix. SCO Group lost in a series of court battles, and was eventually forced into bankruptcy.[1]

Early life and education

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McBride graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in sociology and then earned a master's degree in industrial relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. While at the University of Illinois McBride was awarded a fellowship from IBM.

McBride was fluent in Japanese and spent two years in Japan as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[2]

Early career

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From 1988 to 1996, McBride was a manager at Novell, where he managed the business relationship with Novell KK (Japan) and later was promoted to vice president and general manager of the Novell Extended Networks Division for Novell Embedded Systems Technology (NEST).[3] He later left Novell to become senior vice president of IKON Office Solutions.

IKON fired him in 1998 after his involvement in the execution of 33 business acquisitions.[4] McBride then sued IKON for $10 million, claiming breach of contract, nonpayment of wages, and fraud. IKON counter-sued, and the case was eventually settled.

McBride was subsequently involved in two startups: SBI and Company, a professional services company, which he founded and served as CEO, and later PointServe, a software company of which he was also CEO. He raised venture capital for both of these companies.[4] McBride was the president of Franklin Covey's online planning business from August 2000 until a few months prior to joining the SCO Group as CEO.[5]

Leadership of The SCO Group

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Main articles: SCO Group and SCO-Linux controversies

McBride has been controversial in the information technology industry for his role as the CEO of SCO in asserting broad claims of intellectual property ownership of the various UNIX operating systems derivatives developed by IBM under a license originally granted by AT&T Corporation. Open source, free software and Linux developers and supporters, and the computer industry at large have been outspoken and highly critical and skeptical of McBride and SCO's claims in these areas.

Ty Mattingly, a former Novell Executive Vice President and co-worker of McBride was quoted as saying, "Congratulations. In a few short months you've dethroned Bill Gates as the most hated man in the industry."[6] McBride claimed he received death threats as a result of the SCO-IBM lawsuits, and had a package of worms mailed to his home, prompting him to carry a firearm and to employ multiple bodyguards.[4] During an interview, when asked about the popularity of the lawsuit against IBM, McBride answered: "We're either right or we're not. If we're wrong, we deserve people throwing rocks at us."[7]

Under McBride's leadership, SCO saw a surge in stock price from under $2 in March 2003 to over $20 just six months later. Following several adverse rulings issued by the United States District Court in Utah, SCO's stock value dropped to under $1. On April 27, 2007, NASDAQ served notice that the company would be delisted if SCO's stock price did not increase above $1 for a minimum of 10 consecutive days over the course of 180 business days, ending October 22, 2007.[8]

On August 10, 2007, the United States District Court in Utah issued a ruling that Novell had retained ownership of the System V UNIX copyrights and that SCO was in breach of its covenants to provide Novell with the previously agreed royalties to the Unix technology Novell had originally sold to SCO. Following this ruling, the value of SCO stock fell to just $0.44 per share, a one-day drop of more than 70%. On September 14, 2007, SCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,[9] and by September 18 its share price had reached $0.18 per share.

On December 21, 2007, SCO received a NASDAQ delisting notice and trading was suspended on December 27, 2007.[10] The stock price was $0.12 per share.

One of the reorganization plans put forward by SCO as part of its bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware required McBride to resign from SCO. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SCO and SNCP (Stephen Norris & Co. Capital Partners) included the note that "upon the effective date of the Proposed Plan of Reorganization, the existing CEO of the Company, Darl McBride, will resign immediately." The plan called for "a favorable resolution of the Novell/IBM Litigation".[11] The plan was withdrawn by SCO following objections which highlighted the lack of detail given to the court and other interested parties about the plan.

On October 14, 2009, McBride was terminated as Chief Executive Officer and President of The SCO Group.[12][13]

Subsequent career

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On April 9, 2010 McBride purchased the SCO Mobility intellectual property from The SCO Group for $100,000.[14]

The company is now known as Me Inc. and as of June 2011, McBride was president and CEO.[15]

After McBride left SCO, he bought some software in a SCO bankruptcy sale and with it started a company called Shout.[16] It developed a mobile app called SHOUT, a free trivia game that integrated with live sporting events and awarded winners with cash and other prizes. In 2013, the app had a deal with Deron Williams as a celebrity endorser.[citation needed][17]

Death

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According to his published obituary, Darl McBride lost his life to ALS complications on Monday, September 16, 2024.[18] He is survived by a wife, seven children, and nine grandchildren.

References

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  1. ^ "IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH" (PDF). groklaw.net. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  2. ^ "SCO so despised that chief is armed". Deseret News. 2004-03-08. Archived from the original on March 8, 2004. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  3. ^ Hindley, Kelly; Raphel, Catherine; King, Melanie (1995-06-15). "Novell Forms New Systems Group To Develop Next Generation Network System Software" (Press release). Orem, UT, USA: Novell, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2018-08-18.
  4. ^ a b c Stone, Brad (July 2004). "The Linux Killer". Wired. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  5. ^ "Darl McBride – President and Chief Executive Officer". The SCO Group. Archived from the original on 2004-10-10. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  6. ^ Torode, Christina (2003-11-14). "Top 25 Executives: Darl McBride, President and CEO, The SCO Group". CRN. Archived from the original on 2004-02-02. Retrieved 2006-11-13.
  7. ^ "CRN Interview: SCO CEO Defends $1 Billion Lawsuit Against IBM". CRN. 2003-04-24. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  8. ^ Orchard, Jeremy. "Xinuos". Archived from the original on February 7, 2005.
  9. ^ The SCO Group Files Chapter 11 to Protect Assets as It Addresses Potential Financial and Legal Challenges Archived September 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. The SCO Group, Inc. press release, September 14, 2007
  10. ^ "SCO Receives Nasdaq Notice Letter". 2007-12-27. Archived from the original on 2007-12-30. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  11. ^ "SCO CEO Darl McBride is on his way out". Retrieved June 1, 2016.[dead link‍]
  12. ^ "Form 8-K for SCO GROUP INC: Change in Directors or Principal Officers, Other Events, Financial Statements". Yahoo! Finance. October 19, 2009. Archived from the original on October 22, 2009.
  13. ^ "SCO sacks Darl McBride". Archived from the original on October 21, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "Darl Buys (Not Licenses) SCO's Mobility Assets for $100,000". Groklaw. Retrieved 2010-04-12.
  15. ^ "Darl McBride". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
  16. ^ Hall, Christine (November 2, 2024). "Once Linux's Biggest Enemy: Darl McBride Dies and Nobody Notices". Foss Force. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  17. ^ "Deron Williams on Twitter". Twitter.
  18. ^ "Darl Charles McBride". Memorial Mortuaries & Cemeteries. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
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