Icahn: He is done fighting Dell deal

Investor Carl Icahn says he's done fighting the $24.8 billion Dell takeover bid by the U.S. technology giant's founder, which is scheduled for a vote Thursday. Icahn referred to the Dell leadership as a dictatorship and said the company's board reminded him of the famous Clark Gable quote from the movie "Gone with the Wind." "They simply don't give a damn," Icahn wrote in a letter to shareholders. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Icahn, who owns 9 percent of Dell, said he is still going to vote against the proposal to have Dell sell itself to its founder, Michael Dell, and equity firm Silver Lake for $24.8 billion. He also said his opposition to the deal forced Dell and Silver Lake to offer a better price for the company, increasing the initial $24.4 billion offer by 10 cents a share to $13.75 per share plus a special dividend. That increase made the deal "a lot more tolerable," he said. The board postponed the vote twice, fearing it would not meet with shareholder approval, the Journal said. "Most functioning dictatorships only need to postpone the vote once to win," Icahn said about the vote delays.