Dell debates going private, Microsoft to pay billions to help make it happen?
The rumor mill's been running at full bore for about a week now, with unnamed sources explaining that Dell wants to become a private company, perhaps because of its recent lackluster financial performance. Today, the volume of those rumors has gotten louder. Both CNBC and the Wall Street Journal report that Microsoft's looking to help buy out the PC maker, paying a grand chunk -- between $1 and $3 billion -- of the price to buy out Dell's publicly-owned shares. According to Reuters' sources, Michael Dell and his cohort have formed a committee to evaluate any such deals or offers, but naturally, any other details about Microsoft's (or anyone else's) involvement are few and far between. We've reached out to both Microsoft and Dell for comment, and we'll update our post here as we learn more.
