CMGI

ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: MLNK)
Founded	, Delaware, 1986
Headquarters	Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Key people	Joseph Lawler, Chairman & CEO
Industry	Internet services, Software, Venture capital
Revenue	▲$1,148.8 Million USD (2006)
Net income	▼$14.9 Million USD (2006)
Employees	4,700[1]
Website	www.moduslink.com

ModusLink Global Solutions, formerly CMGI Inc., is an American technology and venture capital company, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The company supplies a range of internet and communications services, mostly to computer companies, its biggest customer being Hewlett-Packard Company which accounts for 30% of their fiscal 2007 revenue^[2]. Its services include inventory and supply chain management, and software and services to support customer logistics, fulfillment, customer relations, and web-based retail. The company provides these services mainly through its subsidiary ModusLink Corporation.

History

The company was founded in 1986 as CMG Information Services, Inc. by David Wetherell, who was formerly the company's Chairman. The company's initial public offering was in 1994. CMGI's December 2006 market capitalization was $662.4 million. CMGI's stock boomed in the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, peaking at $163 in 2000, for a market capitalization of more than $40 billion. The stock crashed heavily when the bubble burst, falling below $1 in 2002. As a result, the company was forced to cease its acquisition spree, sell many of its investments, and reduce other costs such as the naming rights to CMGI Field, home of the New England Patriots.

On 29 September 2008, CMGI officially changed their name to ModusLink Global Solutions, with the change of ticker symbol to MLNK taking effect on 30 September 2008^[3].

@Ventures

@Ventures [1] is CMGI's technology venture capital arm. Since 2004 and the launch of their fifth fund, @Ventures has focused on early-stage clean technology investments, with investments including:

• 212 Resources [2]
• Advent Solar [3]
• CarbonFlow [4]
• Cobalt Biofuels [5]
• H2Gen [6]
• M2E Power [7]
• Powerit Holdings [8]
• Propel [9]

Prior to 2004, the group focused on investments in IT and the internet. Its investments in these sectors have included:

• 1stUp.com (CMGI corporate acquisition)
• AltaVista
• Lycos
• FreeMark Communications
• furniture.com
• BizBuyer.com
• Tribal Voice, makers of chat program PowWow (CMGI corporate acquisition)
• iChat (a competitor to Tribal Voice)
• Snapfish
• GX Media
• Domania
• Central ad server
• MyFamily.com, Inc.
• Alibris [10]
• GeoCities
• Chemdex.com
• AdForce
• Navisite
• Koz.com

References