Insight; some got it, some don't. The writers at Salon occasionally display remarkable glimmers of perception, but every once in a while they also miss the boat completely. For instance, faithful viewer Chris Nelson pointed out a new article called, "Why is Michael Dell cashing out?" It seems that good ol' Mike has been dumping his DELL stock over the past couple of years, shedding two and a half billion dollars' worth in just under twenty-four months, and Salon wants to know why. The cash value of Mike's sell-off just for this year alone appears to be significantly higher than the own-company-stock sales of Steve Case, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates combined.

Of course, Microsoft's Paul Allen dumped almost five billion dollars' worth of MSFT this year, but he's no longer at the company, so it's not quite a comparable scenario. The fact is, Mike Dell's stock sales are inordinately high, no matter what a Dell spokesperson says about Mike simply performing "routine money management." So unless he's planning on buying a few thousand yachts sometime soon, it's not surprising that some analysts consider Mike's selling spree an "ominous sign" that "there's been a price malaise in [Dell's] stock." It's easy to wonder whether Mike knows something that other investors don't, but probably should.

However, Salon missed the single most obvious reason that Mike would be selling off all his company's stock-- but faithful viewer Mr. Nick sure didn't: "We know why, don't we? After he's left with a single share of DELL, will he go for a jet or an America's Cup boat?" Suddenly it all comes clear; this is just another manifestation of Mike's unhealthy obsession with copying Steve Jobs. You'll recall, of course, that Steve sold off all but one share of AAPL in 1997, and retained just that single share until the board threw him all those stock options when they gave him that jet. (We're not even sure if he's exercised any of the options, actually.) So now Mike's following suit. Sigh... It's sad to see the depths to which mental illness can drag us.