I'm an employee of... Dell!?

Posted:
in AppleOutsider edited January 2014
I got in to work a little late this morning. I noticed I was walking past a lot of empty cubicles, and began to wonder if there was a meeting I'd forgotten about. As I sat down to check my e-mail and calendar, I heard the laughter of a large crowd from a nearby conference room, so I knew that something was going on.



A few seconds later, I see two e-mails at the top of my In Box -- one, from our CEO, "Dell acquires EqualLogic", and just above that, from Michael Dell, "Welcome to Dell!"



Apparently the deal was signed at around 11:30 PM (EST) last night, and only a very small group of people knew this deal was brewing until then. Up until then we we're still all prepared to go out and do a "road show" for an IPO starting tomorrow.



I think this deal will work out well for us, and for me personally it's not too bad. I'm getting some fairly definite cash for about 40-something% of my stock options (at least if the deal actually goes through -- there's always a small chance something could fall through before everything is completely finalized) -- but it's not as much as I dreamed of (perhaps over-optimistically) for a fully-vested 100% of already-exercised options out on the open market.



As a long time Mac fan, with, um, a "certain attitude", let us say, towards Dell, this is just very weird.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    brussellbrussell Posts: 9,812member
    I, for one, welcome your new Dell overlords.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    I wonder if they're going to switch all your office's computers to Dell...
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Yeah, I understand how you feel.



    But don't worry, you will be assimilated soon. The brainwashing unit has already been ordered



    -t
  • Reply 4 of 9
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shetline View Post


    As a long time Mac fan, with, um, a "certain attitude", let us say, towards Dell, this is just very weird.



    Almost karmic in fact...
  • Reply 5 of 9
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shetline View Post


    I heard the laughter of a large crowd from a nearby conference room, so I knew that something was going on.



    Here's an article from Dell's site:



    http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...us&l=en&s=corp



    $1.4 billion it cost.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shetline View Post


    "Welcome to Dell!"



    I think there's a typo in there.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shetline View Post


    As a long time Mac fan, with, um, a "certain attitude", let us say, towards Dell, this is just very weird.



    Take them down from the inside.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Take them down from the inside.



    His stock options would love for that to happen...
  • Reply 7 of 9
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ShawnJ View Post


    His stock options would love for that to happen...



    I'm not sure how much Dell stock I'll end up with, if any. (Not that I'd be planning to try to tear down the company I'll soon be working for either way! )



    I just started working at EqualLogic back in February of this year. I got stock options when I signed on, but those options had a four-year vesting period. As part of the buyout, vesting is being accelerated by one year. Once this deal wraps up (likely in January), I'll end up with cash for somewhere around 45% of the options I had, at Dell's buyout price minus my option price. I'll lose the opportunity to exercise my options and then hold my stock for a year or more, so I'll get taxed on this as regular income instead of capital gains.



    As far as I know at this point, the remaining 55% of my options simply go away. There will likely be some new way Dell will try to "incentivize" us to compensate for the loss of outstanding options, but I don't think they're under any obligation to do so, and whether or not anything they might do would involve Dell stock is hard to say.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    shetlineshetline Posts: 4,695member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Guybrush Threepwood View Post


    I wonder if they're going to switch all your office's computers to Dell...



    They were mostly Dells already anyway. So far, however, it appears that I get to keep the Mac mini that's currently sitting on my desktop (hooked up to a Dell monitor, sitting between two Dell computers)... although perhaps I should toss some papers over the Apple logo on top of the Mini if Michael wanders through.



    First Apple goes Intel, now this... \
  • Reply 9 of 9
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post


    Yeah, I understand how you feel.



    But don't worry, you will be assimilated soon. The brainwashing unit has already been ordered



    -t



    I've heard it involves anal probes.



    Nick
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