Michael Dell: Repairing a legacy?

Michael Dell once gave up day-to-day control of the computer company that bears his name - and everything began to go south. Now the billionaire is cementing his grip over the firm to try to restore it to its former glory.

The billionaire roped in private equity house Silver Lake and Microsoft Corp, to take his 28-year-old company private for $24.4 billion in the second-largest buyout in technology history.

In Tuesday's announcement, Dell - who once upbraided Apple Inc co-founder's Steve Jobs for trying to rescue the Mac-maker - enthused about the "exciting new chapter" his company was embarking upon.

While those investors and Dell himself have said little on the subject, some analysts believe the brash, combative Texan native, having once propelled his company from a college dorm-room project to the pinnacle of the personal computing world, may be itching to repair his reputation as a visionary CEO.