Snapshot
Mark Shuttleworth is an African entrepreneur who loves technology, innovation and space flight. His initiatives range from exploring the infinite possibilities of open source software; to showcasing the importance of maths, science and technology while at school; to providing venture capital for projects he believes in.
Explore: Find out what Mark is thinking – follow his blog.

Prepare your self – it’s an incredible journey:
 
Early years
Mark was born in Welkom in 1973, but grew up in Cape Town . His passion for technology (what a great way to describe "computer games") led to him studying a Business Science degree in Finance and Information Systems at UCT (University of Cape Town).
Innovative entrepreneur
He started Thawte while in his final year at 'varsity in '95. By 1999, Thawte was the fastest growing internet certificate authority in the world. In December 1999, Mark sold Thawte to the US company, VeriSign. 

Local is not limiting
Mark then started HBD - short for "Here Be Dragons" -to support local entrepreneurs so that they could have a global impact. HBD invests in innovative companies across a variety of sectors such as software, pharmaceutical services, electronics and mobile phone services.
Social innovation
He also created The Shuttleworth Foundation  - a nonprofit organisation that focuses on improving the quality and reach of education in Africa, as well as promoting the role that open source can play in developing countries. 

(First African in) Space traveller
Mark realised his lifelong dream in 2002. He was accepted as one of the crew of Soyuz TM-34, a Russian space craft, which involved seven months of training at Star City in Russia, and almost as much time in medical testing, science programme development and negotiations. Part of the First African in Space  project was to conduct a series of SA science experiments in this weightless environment and a road show that took the project to close on 2000 schools.
Software for everyone
In 2004 Mark launched Ubuntu, which aims to produce a high-quality desktop and server operating system that is available for free to the whole world. 

What next?
Who knows what Mark will get up to - but one thing's for sure: it will definitely be interesting, challenging, and shake things up a bit.