There should be a record book for this stuff. Oh yeah, there is: Wikipedia.
I occasionally see some “fact” that cries out for correction. Maybe it’s because some facts are difficult to uncover. On 11/06/07, Dan Bricklin wrote:
“Yesterday Dell announced that it was acquiring EqualLogic for about $1.4 billion — reportedly the largest cash acquisition of a venture backed startup.”
Hmm. I worked for Verio for four years. Verio was a venture backed startup. In 2000, Verio was acquired by NTT Communications for $6 billion cash. (NTT wrote a check for “only” $5.5 billion because they already owned 10% of Verio.) I’m pretty sure that’s still the largest cash deal in Internet history. About two months after the deal closed, the market crashed. But the cash deal was locked in at at fixed price. Great for Verio shareholders, not so great for NTT.
You can read the details on Wikipedia’s Verio page.
Whenever you see the word “reportedly,” be suspicious. That is all.
