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🟡 FORMERLY PE OWNED
Dell Technologies
computers · Round Rock, TX
PE Firm
Silver Lake
Year Acquired
2013
“The rare PE story where the patient survived. Silver Lake turned a $24.9B bet into $70B.”
What Happened
- •Michael Dell and Silver Lake took Dell private for $24.9B in 2013 when PC revenue had declined 8% in a single year
- •Acquired EMC for $67B in 2016, the largest tech deal in history at the time, then cut 2,000-3,000 jobs from overlapping divisions
- •Returned to public markets in 2018; Silver Lake's investment ultimately generated an estimated $70B in value
- •Successfully pivoted from declining PC maker to enterprise IT solutions provider — a genuine turnaround, not an asset strip
The Damage Done
- â–¸Over 2,000 workers laid off in 2014 following a 72% drop in quarterly profits
- â–¸Planned to cut 20% of U.S. sales employees and 30% of European sales and marketing jobs after going private
- â–¸An additional 2,000 to 3,000 jobs cut after the $63 billion EMC merger in 2016
- ▸Dell targeted removing $3 billion in expenses — cost cuts that directly impacted staffing and customer support