Carl Icahn Could Snatch Dell Away From Michael Dell

Michael Dell might not get the company he founded back after all. Carl Icahn and the Blackstone Group have both put in competing bids for Dell (the company), and they both appear to value it more highly than the offer Dell (the guy) put in last month, the company confirmed for the Wall Street Journal. Michael Dell has said he's willing to consider joining forces with a third party on an alternate proposal.

Icahn—already a major Dell shareholder—is offering to purchase $2 billion worth of shares at $15 each, and provide another $2 billion in equity financing, while Blackstone is offering to acquire Dell outright for $14.25 a share. Michael Dell's offer is for only $13.65 a share, but that doesn't mean it's dead in the water; the committee evaluating the proposals says the two new offers aren't terribly detailed, and it hasn't yet decided which offer is the best. (More Dell stories.)