> This guy went to the news conference and took notes.
Great, thanks for posting the source. Very informative. The $50M figure surprises me, it's higher than I thought it'd be.
> By the way, why do I know Next's 1996 sales and you don't?
> I thought you worked there?
I worked there from 5/94 to 5/95 so wasn't around during 1996. Even so, NeXT is (was) a private company and didn't freely disclose its sales and earnings figures, even to employees. We would hear about big deals and such but rarely the bottom line. I wasn't incredibly nosy though -- I probably could have wheedled more information out of someone if I'd tried.
> Yeah those other companies were BOUGHT all right. Nobody
> said they were shopped, however. We're talking
> specifically about NEXT here. What is the point of
> bringing theses othere companies up?
I am not sure what the difference between "being bought" and "being shopped" is. For a company to be bought, they have to talk to possible suitors. Is that shopping? I personally don't think it's terribly important who makes the first move in this kind of deal. Before such a thing goes through, upper management on both sides has to be involved anyways.
The thing in particular that I disgree with is that a company that is looking for a buyout ("shopping") is in a desparate financial situation. I can name lots of other companies that have been bought or are looking to be bought that are stable, healthy, growing companies. In fact if NeXT was due to be profitable in Q1 1997, it sounds like they were doing pretty good on their own.
Earlier I said that NeXT is (was) a struggling company. This is evident, since they have been around for 11 years without showing a significant profit. However with 1996 sales of $50M and profitability eminent in 1997 it sounds like they have gotten themselves in a better financial situation. I think characterising their deal with Apple as some kind of last gasp desparation move to save a dying company isn't accurate. It was a business deal that both parties could benefit from.
Randy |
