OpenText A Timeline
OpenText began as a search program for the Oxford English Dictionary. This video follows it from a University of Waterloo research project to a software group worth billions, and to the reversal that followed when the buying stopped.
In 1984 the University of Waterloo joined Oxford University Press to put the dictionary on computer. The search software built for it, PAT, became the product of a company founded in June 1991 by Frank Tompa, Tim Bray and Gaston Gonnet. Under Tom Jenkins it put one of the first web search engines online in 1995, listed on NASDAQ in January 1996, and then turned to managing companies' documents with Livelink.
Then the buying: Hummingbird (about $489 million, 2006), Vignette (about $310 million, 2009), GXS (about $1.165 billion, 2014), Dell EMC's Documentum ($1.62 billion, 2017), Carbonite and Webroot (about $1.45 billion, 2019), Zix (about $860 million, 2021) and Micro Focus (about $5.8 billion at completion, 2023), which brought Novell's old software with it. Most of it was paid for with borrowed money.
And the turn: the $2.275 billion sale of the mainframe tools to Rocket Software, revenue falling 10.4% to $5.17 billion, the removal of Mark Barrenechea on 11 August 2025, the sales of eDOCS and Vertica, and Ayman Antoun taking over as chief executive on 20 April 2026. Fiscal 2026 revenue was $5.246 billion, up 1.5%, and long-term debt was down to about $5.7 billion.
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Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
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Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- Sir James Murray, first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, in his Scriptorium: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJames_Murray_in_a_scriptorium.jpg
- Oxford University Press building, Walton Street, Oxford - publisher of the OED: Jonas M, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AOxford_University_Press_Building_%E2%80%93_Walton_Street.jpg
- University of Waterloo computer room, Mathematics and Computer Building (1968): University of Waterloo. Central Photographic., Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AWaterloo-IBM-System-360model75.jpg
- Novell NetWare 4.11 server installation CD (1996): Asanagi, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANetWare_4_installation_CD_%28Ja%29_2025-02-22.jpg
Primary sources
- Wikipedia, 'James Murray (lexicographer)' () - editor from 1879; first edition 1928, twelve volumes, 414,825 words defined.
- Frank Tompa, 'The New OED project', University of Waterloo - Waterloo joined 1984; Centre for the New OED January 1985; second edition March 1989. Wikipedia, 'Oxford English Dictionary' - 20 volumes, about 59 million words; PAT by Gaston Gonnet.
- International Directory of Company Histories, 'Open Text Corporation' (encyclopedia.com, re-) - 1984-1989 search work; founded June 1991, first shipment September; Jenkins 1994; Open Text Index April 1995; Yahoo September 1995; NASDAQ January 1996, 4.6 million shares at $15, about $61m net; Odesta November 1995, C$29.8m; Livelink early 1996; Shackleton CEO July 2005.
- Wikipedia, 'Tim Bray' () - project manager from 1987, left 1989. OpenText board profile, Thomas Jenkins - chairman since 1998.
- OpenText Form 8-K exhibit, 2 October 2006 (Hummingbird, about $489m); 'Open Text to Acquire Vignette', 6 May 2009 (about $310m), completed 21 July 2009.
- OpenText release, 15 December 2011 (Barrenechea, effective 2 January 2012); Francisco Partners, 5 November 2013 (GXS, $1.165bn total, $1.065bn cash, $100m shares); OpenText, 'OpenText Buys GXS', 16 January 2014.
- OpenText, 'OpenText Buys Documentum', 23 January 2017; Carbonite completion release, 24 December 2019 (about $1.45bn); Zix completion release, 23 December 2021 (about $860m).
- OpenText, 25 August 2022 (Micro Focus announced, about $6.0bn) and 'OpenText Buys Micro Focus', 31 January 2023 (about $5.8bn); OpenText Form 10-K FY2026 ($6.2bn). BetaKit, 31 January 2023 (8%, about 2,000 jobs).
- OpenText, 28 November 2023 and 8-K exhibit of 1 May 2024 (AMC to Rocket Software, $2.275bn); 8-K, 3 July 2024 (about 1,200 positions); BetaKit, Madison McLauchlan, 6 May 2025.
- OpenText Forms 10-K, SEC EDGAR - revenue FY2010-FY2026 and long-term debt FY2019-FY2026; FY2025 results, 7 August 2025 ($5.168bn, down 10.4%).
- OpenText Form 8-K, 'OpenText Announces Leadership Transition', 11 August 2025.
- OpenText Q4 FY2026 results, 8-K Exhibit 99.1, 6 August 2026 - revenue $5.246bn (+1.5%), cloud $1.959bn (+5.5%), long-term debt $5.734bn; Antoun quotation re-. OpenText Form 10-K FY2026 - about 19,900 employees; 275 Frank Tompa Drive; Aviator; -0.5% adjusted.
- BetaKit, 24 March 2026 (about 880 jobs) and 8 July 2026 (about 400 jobs).
Not regulated financial advice.