My post on Yahoo! and Icahn yesterday led to a spirited discussion in the Enterprise Irregulars. Most took the position of "time for Jerry and Yahoo! to move on".
So I did some "time shifting" and asked what if Apple today was in the shape it was in 1998 when Jobs was back about a year, and someone made an offer for it. And Jobs resisted. He would have been lynched like Jerry. But instead of the one-time 30 to 50% acquisition premium his shareholders would have received, he has delivered many, many times that in the decade since. I invoked HP end of 2005 when Mark Hurd had spent a few months there. If someone - private equity, another public company - had made an offer and Mark had resisted he would have been crucified like Jerry. Look what he has delivered since. I invoked IBM in 1993 when Gertsner had been there a few months.
Our capital markets are known to be short term focused but in the last few years we may have become even more so - micro-term, day trading focused. Take the 30 to 50% premium and move on. But Apple, HP, IBM and many others have shown companies can be revived and deliver many, many times that one time M&A shareholder value.
I am not saying Jerry is a Steve, Mark or Lou. But we sure seem to want to do a lot more mercy killing in our industry these days. Even when the patient and family show signs of fighting on.
Comments
Technology Euthanasia
My post on Yahoo! and Icahn yesterday led to a spirited discussion in the Enterprise Irregulars. Most took the position of "time for Jerry and Yahoo! to move on".
So I did some "time shifting" and asked what if Apple today was in the shape it was in 1998 when Jobs was back about a year, and someone made an offer for it. And Jobs resisted. He would have been lynched like Jerry. But instead of the one-time 30 to 50% acquisition premium his shareholders would have received, he has delivered many, many times that in the decade since. I invoked HP end of 2005 when Mark Hurd had spent a few months there. If someone - private equity, another public company - had made an offer and Mark had resisted he would have been crucified like Jerry. Look what he has delivered since. I invoked IBM in 1993 when Gertsner had been there a few months.
Our capital markets are known to be short term focused but in the last few years we may have become even more so - micro-term, day trading focused. Take the 30 to 50% premium and move on. But Apple, HP, IBM and many others have shown companies can be revived and deliver many, many times that one time M&A shareholder value.
I am not saying Jerry is a Steve, Mark or Lou. But we sure seem to want to do a lot more mercy killing in our industry these days. Even when the patient and family show signs of fighting on.
Technology Euthanasia
My post on Yahoo! and Icahn yesterday led to a spirited discussion in the Enterprise Irregulars. Most took the position of "time for Jerry and Yahoo! to move on".
So I did some "time shifting" and asked what if Apple today was in the shape it was in 1998 when Jobs was back about a year, and someone made an offer for it. And Jobs resisted. He would have been lynched like Jerry. But instead of the one-time 30 to 50% acquisition premium his shareholders would have received, he has delivered many, many times that in the decade since. I invoked HP end of 2005 when Mark Hurd had spent a few months there. If someone - private equity, another public company - had made an offer and Mark had resisted he would have been crucified like Jerry. Look what he has delivered since. I invoked IBM in 1993 when Gertsner had been there a few months.
Our capital markets are known to be short term focused but in the last few years we may have become even more so - micro-term, day trading focused. Take the 30 to 50% premium and move on. But Apple, HP, IBM and many others have shown companies can be revived and deliver many, many times that one time M&A shareholder value.
I am not saying Jerry is a Steve, Mark or Lou. But we sure seem to want to do a lot more mercy killing in our industry these days. Even when the patient and family show signs of fighting on.
June 05, 2008 in Industry Commentary | Permalink