A Son SoftBank Buyout Would Look More Like Musk Than Dell

Michael Dell’s 2013 $25 billion buyout of the company that bears his name is the textbook case study of take-private deals, and could be a model for the Japanese billionaire to follow. Faced with structural changes in the PC industry and complaints from activist investors, markets consistently undervalued the firm. So, Dell delisted the stock, renovating the business in private without the pressure of meeting quarterly expectations, in a move funded by private-equity firm Silver Lake, among others.