One by one, most employees within Canopy, and at the dozens of companies owing their existence to the Lindon-based technology incubator, refuse to comment. The word is out at Canopy, more than one employee says, that to discuss the company with outsiders - particularly reporters - is to risk firing.
The fear extends to many of Canopy's subsidiaries, where sources worry that commenting on their investor's status is to risk unspecified retribution from Canopy's new chief executive, William Mustard.
"No one knows what Mustard will do. Everything is up and the air, everybody is afraid to do anything," one Canopy subsidiary employee confided.
Mustard, meanwhile, has not returned any of several messages left since a coup left him new CEO at Canopy. Mustard, an independent senior executive consultant, was installed during a Dec. 17 board meeting at which Canopy founder Ray Noorda and his wife, Lewena, out-voted former CEO Ralph Yarro to fire him along with Darcy Mott, chief financial officer, and former corporate counsel Brent Christensen.
Robert Mount, CEO and chairman of Power Innovations, said he has had no contact with either Yarro or Mott - who have been members of the Canopy offshoot's board - since their ouster.
"This took us as a big shock and surprise," he said. "We had a very good relationship with Ralph, Darcy and Brent.
"We did have a meeting with [Mustard]. It was introductory in nature, just this is who we are, and 'My name is Bill Mustard and I am now president and CEO of Canopy,' " Mount said.
While a founding investor, today Canopy maintains a minority position at Power Innovations, a company specializing in regulating and generating electrical supplies. "Of course, we want all our shareholders to be happy," Mount emphasized.
Tom Stockham, president and chief executive of the online genealogy services company MyFamily.com, said he had no idea Yarro and his top two managers were gone until he read about it Saturday in The Salt Lake Tribune.
"But I don't think this will have any significant impact on MyFamily.com, since Canopy now is just a small, minority stockholder," he added.
Brad Rutledge, vice president of marketing relations at Linux Networx, declined comment on the Canopy drama, noting a recent $40 million funding round helped end Canopy's ownership interest in the supercomputer company.
Ragula Bhaskar, president and chief executive of FatPipe Networks, perhaps speaks best for all Canopy's children. While noting Canopy held only a small share of his high-speed Internet services company, he is concerned.
"They just have to resolve these issues, hopefully in the best interests of all the portfolio companies," he says.
Calls seeking comment from Canopy's most controversial subsidiary, the SCO Group, went unreturned. SCO has made headlines for its multibillion-dollar Linux rights-related lawsuit against IBM, as well as other companies.
Calls seeking comment from two other leading Utah investment firms, Wasatch Venture Capital Fund and vSpring Capital, yielded only silence. And Richard Nelson, president and CEO of the Utah Information Technology Association, had little to say, either.
"It is a sad chapter," Nelson said. "Any time that capital may be restricted from a source like Canopy, it's not to the benefit of the industry."
However, out-of-state analysts were more open, and alarmed, about the crisis facing Canopy.
Laura DiDio of the Boston-based Yankee Group speculated the company and the Noordas may have recruited Mustard to "cull the portfolio by weeding out or selling unprofitable businesses."
Still, she warned that, "This type of acrimonious legal action involving multimillions in suits and countersuits can only serve to make Canopy companies, investors, customers and potential customers . . . extremely nervous."
Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group characterized the ousters and allegations surrounding Canopy as "an ugly time for the company.
"This is a train wreck and they should likely appoint a competent, qualified, third party to act as binding arbitrator - otherwise they will make a lot of attorneys very rich and end up with a dead company," he adds.
"If I were an investor and I could, I would pull my money fast. This kind of thing can eat through cash like that shark in 'Jaws' ate through slow-moving swimmers," Enderle warns.
bmims@sltrib.com
In the Canopy portfolio
Linux Networx: Bluffdale, supercomputer design and manufacture. Recently ended Canopy funding relationship.
SCO Group: Lindon, Unix software and applications provider best known for litigation alleging Linux illegally incorporates Unix code.
Altiris: Lindon, computer network management services.
Center7: Lindon, tools and services for managing computer sites and central data centers.
Power Innovations: Lindon, hardware and services for regulation and generation of electricity.
MyFamily.com: Provo, online genealogy research company.
FatPipe Networks: Salt Lake City, high-speed Internet equipment and technology.
