AppleInsider StaffIt may not be the last laugh, but on Friday afternoon, after the close of the stock market, Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple Computer, shared an e-mail chuckle with his employees at the expense of Dell, a big rival, reports the New York Times.
Shortly after Mr. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 as part of the company's acquisition of NeXT, Dell's founder and chairman, Michael Dell, was asked at a technology conference what might be done to fix Apple, then deeply troubled financially.
"What would I do?" Mr. Dell said to an audience of several thousand information technology managers. "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."
On Friday, apparently savoring the moment, Mr. Jobs sent a brief e-mail message to Apple employees, which read: "Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve."
Since his comments in 1997, Mr. Dell appears to have softened his views on Apple, notes the Times. In June Mr. Dell conceded that if Apple were to open the Mac OS to other PC manufacturers, he would be happy to offer the operating system to Dell customers.
Still, Mr. Dell could end up with the last laugh. According to the Times, Mr. Dell's personal wealth still exceeds that of Mr. Jobs, despite the fact that Mr. Jobs also has a 50.1 percent share in Pixar Animation Studios that is worth about $3.4 billion.
"Last year Mr. Dell, who founded his namesake company as a college student in 1984, was ranked fourth on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States," said the Times. "It estimated his personal wealth at $14.2 billion."
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"Still, Mr. Dell could end up with the last laugh. According to the Times, Mr. Dell's personal wealth still exceeds that of Mr. Jobs, despite the fact that Mr. Jobs also has a 50.1 percent share in Pixar Animation Studios that is worth about $3.4 billion.
"Last year Mr. Dell, who founded his namesake company as a college student in 1984, was ranked fourth on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States," said the Times. "It estimated his personal wealth at $14.2 billion.""
Seeing how this is an issue of the valuation of the company, rather than personal worth, I don't see how that's the case.
If i might paraphrase Red vs. Blue real quick:
Michael Dell: "Apple should go out of business."
Sarge: "Hmm, that is indeed an intresting proposal you have delivered to us. Simmons, would you care to offer our rebuttle?"
Simmons: "Suck it Dell."
Who really thinks Dell wasn't taking a cheap shot at its competitor Apple? Dell had just been 'forced' to re-write its website since its WebObjects-based site (from non-competitor NeXT) was now being supplied by a competitor, Apple. See, if Dell thought Apple wasn't a competitor they wouldn't have made the website switch. But he did, so he did. And the Dell website still sucks today.
Since he's so cozy with Apple now, willing to take on Microsoft for them, maybe he should switch back to WebObjects so configuring a server isn't such a brain-poking exercise in frustration (sorry, you have selected incompatible items - please go guess which ones and fix them).
Who really thinks Dell wasn't taking a cheap shot at its competitor Apple? Dell had just been 'forced' to re-write its website since its WebObjects-based site (from non-competitor NeXT) was now being supplied by a competitor, Apple. See, if Dell thought Apple wasn't a competitor they wouldn't have made the website switch. But he did, so he did. And the Dell website still sucks today.
Since he's so cozy with Apple now, willing to take on Microsoft for them, maybe he should switch back to WebObjects so configuring a server isn't such a brain-poking exercise in frustration (sorry, you have selected incompatible items - please go guess which ones and fix them).
But if they had a better web page, maybe their market cap would be higher and this thread would not even exist!
In 1997 AAPL was trading at a historic low, and bleeding money out the rear for years at that point. Hundreds of millions a QUARTER. $708 million in one quarter, for example. That's what I call being in horrible shape.
Dell's comments weren't without merit at the time, though we're all better off having Apple around today, naturally. But it could have gone either way back then. They're lucky to have had the war chest to stay alive until SJ came back.