SAS Institute lures former Red Hat CFO

Kevin Thompson, the former chief financial officer of Linux seller Red Hat, has taken that post at SAS Institute, spokeswoman Desiree Adkins said Friday. He left Red Hat in September, after announcing his resignation in July.

Red Hat Chief Executive Matthew Szulik said the company was looking for a CFO with more experience running larger companies. But SAS evidently thought Thompson fit for the job, and it's widely considered the largest privately owned software company. SAS makes software that lets customers mine data, such as customer-purchasing habits, for useful information.