Once upon a time, in galaxy far far away, when Dell Computer was running a hedge fund business.

[Xerxes]

Once upon a time, in galaxy far far away, when Dell Computer was running a hedge fund business. 

Fast forward to 20 years later, hopefully, Prem W. has closed out the derivate bet on himself by now.

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Xerxes

[boilermaker75]

Michael Dell is an SoB when it comes to his shareholders. Back in 2012 I bought DELL around $16. DELL stock price fell a little more and it was such a good deal Dell took the company private forcing me to sell at $12.

[ValueArb]

Question asked of Michael Dell at 1997 Gartner Symposium. "What would you do if you were running Apple Computer?"

 

"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders," Michael Dell said before a crowd of several thousand IT executives.

 

Maybe he meant to say: "I'd give myself a ton of new options with a strike price well below liquidation value, and then shut it down and give the money back to myself, er, shareholders".

 

Dell Market Cap is now $73B, Apple $2.5 Trillion. And Dell has an Apple quote that will live forever in the all time greatest Apple haters quotes alongside:

 

Ed Colligan of Palm Computing when asked about the impending announcement of Apple's iPhone. “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone,” he said. “PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

 

Steve Ballmer's take on the original iPhone: "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."

 

Slashdot founder Rob Malda’s day one dismissal of the original iPod — “No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.”

Edited July 28, 2021 by ValueArb

[Guest]

Yeah, after Dell forced my hand in the buyout...I refuse to buy anymore Dell products. Yeah, yeah I know he doesn't care but still!

[Xerxes]

Deal Of The Century: How Michael Dell Turned His Declining PC Business Into A $40 Billion Windfall (forbes.com)

[rohitc99]

On 7/27/2021 at 8:45 AM, boilermaker75 said:

Michael Dell is an SoB when it comes to his shareholders. Back in 2012 I bought DELL around $16. DELL stock price fell a little more and it was such a good deal Dell took the company private forcing me to sell at $12.

+ 1

there was some shareholder lawsuit which proved it to that effect ...but i dont think most of us got much out of it

[Xerxes]

One could say that Michael Dell was a value investor first, then maybe a SOB ....

[Fundmanagerthrwawy]

Just had a brief scan over Dell and looks like something I could be interested in. Has anyone done a recent deep dive into them? 

Edited January 26, 2022 by Fundmanagerthrwawy

[ValueArb]

41 minutes ago, Fundmanagerthrwawy said:

Just had a brief scan over Dell and looks like something I could be interested in. Has anyone done a recent deep dive into them? 

 

Many investors would like Michael Dell to take a deep dive with lead weights tied to his ankles. 

[Dinar]

3 hours ago, Fundmanagerthrwawy said:

Just had a brief scan over Dell and looks like something I could be interested in. Has anyone done a recent deep dive into them? 

I bought their product for years and decided that I will never buy their products again after two super expensive laptops bought in spring of 2021 quickly developed problems and their premium support basically told me to go fish, rather than apologize and offer the money back or fix the situation.  So if my experience in widespread, their revenues and hence profits will be impacted.  As an investor, I would never touch Dell stock given how Mr Dell has behaved towards shareholders - I doubt that my interests and his interests are aligned.  VM Ware is a good example as well.

[Guest]

I was one of the investors that Dell screwed. I haven't bought a Dell product since. I mean, I know he doesn't care but still. 

[goldendad]

I bought in 1991 and sold 80% of it in 1998.  Basis (split adjusted) of 32 cents/share and sale price of $66.44. 

 

Two hundred bagger, so I can't really bring myself to dislike Dell.

 

I used to buy its computers out of that sense of appreciation but after a couple lemons I stopped that practice.

[rkbabang]

1 hour ago, goldendad said:

I bought in 1991 and sold 80% of it in 1998.  Basis (split adjusted) of 32 cents/share and sale price of $66.44. 

 

Two hundred bagger, so I can't really bring myself to dislike Dell.

 

I used to buy its computers out of that sense of appreciation but after a couple lemons I stopped that practice.

 

 

Nice.  I hope you bought a lot in 91.   I've never purchased a Dell product myself (or owned Dell stock), but my work laptop provided to me by my company is a Dell Precision 5520, its a solid machine that has run flawlessly since about 2017 and I still use it everyday.  Mostly to log into my company's VPN and into my linux machine there, but I also use it for email, web, documents, and communications (Teams, Zoom, etc.).   I still prefer a Mac personally though.

 

[wachtwoord]

5 hours ago, rkbabang said:

 

 

Nice.  I hope you bought a lot in 91.   I've never purchased a Dell product myself (or owned Dell stock), but my work laptop provided to me by my company is a Dell Precision 5520, its a solid machine that has run flawlessly since about 2017 and I still use it everyday.  Mostly to log into my company's VPN and into my linux machine there, but I also use it for email, web, documents, and communications (Teams, Zoom, etc.).   I still prefer a Mac personally though.

 

 

I owned Dell back when Michael Dell became a thief. He stole my shares in a forced buy out I did not want at a ridiculous low price. I will not piss on the thief if he were on fire. I don't forgive people that steal from me.

[boilermaker75]

2 hours ago, wachtwoord said:

 

I owned Dell back when Michael Dell became a thief. He stole my shares in a forced buy out I did not want at a ridiculous low price. I will not piss on the thief if he were on fire. I don't forgive people that steal from me.

 

Ditto

[Fundmanagerthrwawy]

 Thanks for the feedback on Michael Dell. I think it has put me off permanently.