Dell Made $3.1 Bln in Options on Its Own Shares, Forbes Says
Round Rock, Texas, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Computer Corp., the No. 1 direct seller of personal computers, made more than $3.1 billion in the past three years in derivatives transactions, selling puts and buying calls as it essentially bet that its share price would increase, Forbes magazine said. Dell made more on options than its $2.5 billion in earnings over the same period as its shares rose more than 40-fold since February 1996. Software-maker Microsoft Corp. also made money on derivatives as its shares rose, earning $225 million from the sale of puts, which are a bet that the stock will decline, in the third-quarter of 1998 as it earned $3.95 billion, Forbes said.
Dell Chief Executive Michael Dell said he intends to sell 4 million shares valued at $344 million, his third such sale in a two-week period, according to a March 5 regulatory filing. |
