Michael Dell, one year after taking company private

New York

A YEAR after spending US$24.9 billion taking his computer company private, Michael Dell is gleeful to have his namesake firm to himself. And to be done with Wall Street.

"This morning on the treadmill I was watching Bloomberg and CNBC, all the circus clowns," Mr Dell said in a recent interview. His disdain for investment advice as entertainment is obvious - so obvious that no one should have been surprised that to get away from Wall Street's influence, Mr Dell endured a monthslong, often personal campaign for a higher shareholder buyout price by corporate raider Carl Icahn.

On Tuesday, Mr Dell will show what he has been up to since the seven-month struggle with Icahn ended last year. At a coming-out party in Austin, Texas, for the new Dell, Michael Dell will try to persuade people that his company is about far more than the personal computers and computer servers it has been known for, with product…