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Cobalt Networks
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>The company was founded in 1996 by Vivek Mehra as Cobalt Microserver. In June 1998, the company changed its name to Cobalt Networks, Inc.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>The company introduced products as follows:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Product</th><th scope="col">Launch date</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Cobalt_Qube/QHlJwC62">Cobalt Qube</a></td><td>March 1998</td></tr><tr><td>Cobalt Cache</td><td>July 1998</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Cobalt_RaQ/4n6Abnm2">Cobalt RaQ</a></td><td>September 1998</td></tr><tr><td>Cobalt NAS</td><td>April 1999</td></tr><tr><td>Cobalt Management Console</td><td>October 1999</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>On November 5, 1999, the company became a <a href="/facts/Public_company/tnJQvSdR">public company</a> via an <a href="/facts/Initial_public_offering/2NntDhrG">initial public offering</a>. Its stock price rose as much as 618% above its $22/share initial price.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>On March 23, 2000, the company announced the acquisition of Chilisoft from <a href="/facts/Charlie_Crystle/g5S5wm5w">Charlie Crystle</a> for 1.15 million shares of Cobalt common stock, then valued at $69.9 million.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>In September 2000, <a href="/facts/Sun_Microsystems/VJ9EzEFd">Sun Microsystems</a> announced the acquisition of the company for $2 billion in stock.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The acquisition was completed on December 7, 2000. </p><p>Many disgruntled engineers left the company in the months following the acquisition.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>In December 2003, Sun shut down the Cobalt product line.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Commerce One, Inc. 2000 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053355/000101287000001777/0001012870-00-001777.txt" target="_blank">https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053355/000101287000001777/0001012870-00-001777.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Vance, Ashlee (December 18, 2003). "Sun drives the final nail in Cobalt's coffin". The Register. <a href="/wiki/Ashlee_Vance" target="_blank">/wiki/Ashlee_Vance</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Vance, Ashlee (December 18, 2003). "Sun drives the final nail in Cobalt's coffin". The Register. <a href="/wiki/Ashlee_Vance" target="_blank">/wiki/Ashlee_Vance</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Company Overview of Cobalt Networks, Inc". Bloomberg L.P. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=26637" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=26637</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Commerce One, Inc. 2000 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053355/000101287000001777/0001012870-00-001777.txt" target="_blank">https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1053355/000101287000001777/0001012870-00-001777.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Cobalt IPO rockets". CNN. November 5, 1999. <a href="https://money.cnn.com/1999/11/05/news/cobalt/index.htm" target="_blank">https://money.cnn.com/1999/11/05/news/cobalt/index.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"COBALT NETWORKS IS BUYING CHILISOFT FOR $70 MILLION". The New York Times. Dow Jones & Company. March 24, 2000. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/24/business/company-news-cobalt-networks-is-buying-chilisoft-for-70-million.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/24/business/company-news-cobalt-networks-is-buying-chilisoft-for-70-million.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Uimonen, Terho (March 23, 2000). "Cobalt to Acquire Chili Soft in $70M Deal". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 2018-05-06. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180506104230/https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/93616/" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180506104230/https://www.computerworld.com.au/article/93616/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>FISHER, LAWRENCE M. (September 20, 2000). "Sun Microsystems to Acquire Cobalt for $2 Billion in Stock". The New York Times. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/20/business/technology-sun-microsystems-to-acquire-cobalt-for-2-billion-in-stock.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/20/business/technology-sun-microsystems-to-acquire-cobalt-for-2-billion-in-stock.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Loney, Matt (January 5, 2004). "How to blow a billion--or two". ZDNet. <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-blow-a-billion-or-two-5000133508/" target="_blank">https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-blow-a-billion-or-two-5000133508/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Vance, Ashlee (December 18, 2003). "Sun drives the final nail in Cobalt's coffin". The Register. <a href="/wiki/Ashlee_Vance" target="_blank">/wiki/Ashlee_Vance</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>