Dell Runs the Gauntlet to Achieve Its Goal of Going Public

It took Michael Dell 12 months of battling shareholders — and ultimately paying them about $14 billion. But assuming all goes smoothly over the next 24 hours, on Friday Dell Technologies, the largest privately held tech company, will once again become a public company.For Dell Technologies, 2018 was filled with rumors and speculation about the on-again, off-again talk of merging with VMware and filing an initial public offering (IPO). Ultimately, Michael Dell found a way to take his company public without a formal IPO and more tightly integrate its offerings with VMware, which is arguably the crown jewel of Dell Technologies’ brand portfolio. And SDxCentral has been covering it from the start. Here’s a look back at all the Dell drama in 2018. In early February, both Dell Technologies and VMware confirmed rumors about a potential merger in separate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Dell’s filing said it was also evaluating a public offering, “business as usual,” and other “potential business opportunities” — like maybe buying the rest of VMware outright.