Rackspace Hosting (f/k/a RAX)

[ciciagt]

Hidden Billionaires in Plain Sight Emerge As Stocks Rise

"American Graham Weston, 48,..... Weston owns about 15 percent of Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX), a provider of Web-based information-technology systems. His stock is worth almost $1.1 billion.

The company held its initial public offering in August 2008. Rackspace shares have surged more than 12-fold since hitting a low of $4 per share in February 2009, making Weston, the company’s largest shareholder, a billionaire.

Weston loathes talking about his wealth. After seeing glitzy dot-coms fail spectacularly a decade ago he, along with his Rackspace cohorts, decided to adopt what they call a no- stars policy.

“We said we wanted to be judged on our substance, not our flash,” Weston said in a telephone interview on March 14.

Weston has put some of his money -- he’s sold about $60 million of Rackspace stock since 2008 -- into helping entrepreneurs and local students. Weston and Rackspace employees have contributed $2 million in grants to spruce up local schools, fund mentoring programs and provide supplies.

“It’s a way for a corporation to interface in a philanthropic way, not just with money but with our own enthusiasm,” Weston said. “We really adopted a new model, which is the idea that a corporation takes accountability for the success of the schools around it and gets directly involved.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/hidden-billionaires-in-plain-sight-emerge-as-stocks-rise.html?cmpid=yhoo