Dell

Dell may not have the reputational pizzazz it enjoyed back in its heyday. But to hear founder Michael Dell tell it, going private has been just the tonic (despite a 2015 loss of $1.2 billion) for this formerly public seller of PCs (the world’s third largest) and servers. With an agreement to buy data-storage company EMC for $67 billion, the combined entity, to be called Dell Technologies, will carry some serious tech throw weight. The deal brings together several companies, including VMware, Pivotal, SecureWorks, RSA, and Virtustream. Dell is zigging just as much of his industry zags, with HP and eBay splitting up their businesses. Will bigger be better for Dell?