Red Hat Names Jim Whitehurst Chief Executive Officer

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected James M. Whitehurst, as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Red Hat, effective January 1, 2008. Mr. Whitehurst will succeed Matthew J. Szulik as President and Chief Executive Officer. Szulik will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

On behalf of Red Hats Board of Directors, William S. Kaiser, lead director, said, "For nearly a decade, Matthew Szuliks vision and leadership legitimized free, open source software as an innovative and profitable business model. From Red Hats early days as a small, private company, Szulik transformed Red Hat into a globally recognized brand whose approach to technology development and customer service has redefined the software industry."

Kaiser added, "The Board is delighted that Jim Whitehurst will serve as CEO. We are confident that he will bring a combination of strategic insight and operational excellence needed to sustain growth while continuing to deliver industry leading customer service. His experience with large, global companies will be essential as Red Hat continues to scale to $1 billion in revenue and beyond."

"After an extensive search, Red Hat has selected a talented executive who has successfully led a global technology-focused organization at Delta," added Szulik. "Jim is a hands on guy who will be a strong cultural fit at Red Hat."

"Red Hat has changed the way people consume technology. This is an outstanding company that I feel privileged to join," said Jim Whitehurst. "Our outlook is positive with strong technology, great people, solid management and a global brand. Red Hat leads the software industry in delivering value to its customers. I welcome this opportunity to lead Red Hat into the future."

Whitehurst joined Delta Airlines in 2002, serving in various roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Operations, Sales and Customer Service, Network and Revenue Management, Marketing and Corporate Strategy.

Prior to joining Delta, Whitehurst served as Vice President and Director of The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and held various leadership roles in their Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Atlanta offices.

A native of Columbus, Ga., Whitehurst graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics. He also attended Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany, holds a general course degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Nosal Partners, an executive search firm, assisted the Red Hat Board of Directors in this search.

About Red Hat

Red Hat, the worlds leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 50 satellite offices spanning the globe. CIOs have ranked Red Hat first for value in Enterprise Software for four consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat provides high-quality, low-cost technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including the JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.

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