Corel founder finally leaves the fold

Corel's founder Michael Cowpland has finally cut his ties with the Canadian software company, after quietly resigning from its board of directors on 25 January.

The move follows his surprise resignation from the position of chief executive last August, although he still remains Corel's second largest shareholder with a seven per cent stake, valued at about $20m. Microsoft is the organisation's largest shareholder, following its acquisition of a $135m stake last October.

According to Canadian reports, sources close to Cowpland said he was unhappy with some of the company's recent decisions, including changes to its logo and its withdrawal from the Linux space, although he denied this himself.

He attests that he left Corel to dedicate his time to heading up Ottawa-based Zim Technologies International, which he bought a minority stake in earlier this month.

But Corel's abandonment of Linux is one of the factors that has led the US Department of Justice to start a new investigation of Microsoft for potential abuses of antitrust law. The software giant was served with a civil subpoena three weeks ago.