A good chuckle: Apple passes Dell in value

SAN FRANCISCO -- It may not be the last laugh, but on Friday afternoon, after the close of the stock market, Steven P. Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, shared an e-mail chuckle with his employees at the expense of Dell, a big rival.

The message was prompted by the 12 percent surge in Apple's stock price last week, which pushed the company's market capitalization to $72.13 billion, passing Dell's value of $71.97 billion.

In 1997, shortly after Jobs returned to Apple, the company he helped found in 1976, Dell's founder and chairman, Michael S. Dell, was asked at a technology conference what might be done to fix Apple, then deeply troubled financially.

"What would I do?" 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, 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."

Dell executives did not return calls over the weekend asking for comment on Apple's rising fortunes.

Dell appears to have softened his views on Apple recently. In June, he responded to an e-mail inquiry from CNET News.com, the computing news service, and said that Dell would consider putting Apple's OS X operating system on its machines if Apple ever decided to sell it separately from its hardware.

Although Jobs has recently shifted some gears and last week introduced his first computer based on chips from Intel, which are also used in Dell machines, it does not appear that selling the operating system separately is in his plans.

Since returning to Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., Jobs has revitalized the company's computer business and created its wildly successful iPod division.

In 2000, after pulling the company out of its financial nose dive, Jobs was awarded a corporate jet and options to purchase 10 million shares.

In 2003, Jobs' options -- by then, the number had risen to 55 million -- were exchanged for a restricted stock grant of 10 million shares, which will become vested in March. At Apple's closing price on Friday of $85.59, his personal stake in Apple is worth $855.9 million.

Dell's stock closed at $30.58 on Friday, down from a 52-week high of $41.99. Dell's personal wealth still exceeds that of Jobs, despite the fact that Jobs also has a 50.1 percent share in Pixar Animation Studios that is worth about $3.4 billion.

Last year 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. It estimated his personal wealth at $14.2 billion.

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