SAS Institute Case Study

SAS Institute Case Analysis

General Introduction
Dr. James Goodnight and three other colleagues, Anthony Barr, Jane Helwig, and John Sall, founded SAS Institute in 1976. The SAS System was a project at North Carolina State University that Goodnight had been a part of since 1971. The project was financed by outside funding. When the funding ran out, Goodnight and his colleagues reached an agreement with the University to obtain the rights to the SAS System. The SAS Institute was born.
Today, SAS is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. SAS has enjoyed positive cash flow from its inception since it began with an existing product and a customer base of about 100 outside companies. Consequently, SAS has never needed outside funding and has no debt.
Presently, SAS is owned by Goodnight and Sall. Goodnight and Sall own two-thirds and one-third, respectively. Goodnight is currently the CEO of SAS. Barr and Helwig sold their ownership interests. SAS is currently the largest privately o...