1991: Borland International Inc. creates a "software powerhouse" by buying Ashton-Tate Corp. for $440 million. Analysts declare that Borland now has "the dominant position in database software for personal computers." Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says, "My largest concern about price competition comes from Borland." Over the next three years, Borland stock loses three-quarters of its value.

The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 1991, p. A3.

1986: People Express Inc., the upstart discount airline, rejects a takeover offer from the hated Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air. Instead, People Express sells its Frontier Airlines division to United for $146 million and states its resolve to remain independent. The move, says chairman Donald Burr, "strengthens substantially our financial position and flexibility." Two months later, on the verge of bankruptcy, People Express sells out to Texas Air for roughly half the price it could have gotten in July.

The Wall Street Journal, July 11, 1986, p. A3