In a revelation that should give late-night comedians two or three days' worth of snark fodder, the headlines this morning startled us with the news that the world's alpha geek, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Bill Gates, may be considering a takeover of Six Flags (NYSE: PKS). He owns almost 12% of the company.
Yesterday, Gates' investing firm, Cascade Investments, filed a statement with the SEC announcing that Mr. Bill himself has become increasingly dissatisfied with Six Flags' underperformance. He intends to speak with management about strategic planning and maybe placing a nominee of his choice on the board.
I can already hear the screams from fans of Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK), and all the other haters. And maybe they have reason to be worried.
Will new rides such as the Boot 'n' Reboot tease us with brief moments of levity, only to drop us at the back of the line to wait for another turn? Will The Longhorn be 100% complete before they clamp us in a car and send us hurtling down the track? If the drinking fountain squirts my eye out, is that a feature or a bug?
OK, enough with the potshots. I tease because I love, Redmond -- or to reestablish my street cred after some recent articles in which I dared defend Mr. Softy.
In all seriousness, Six Flags investors can't be blamed for wanting to fly the white flag. Fellow Fools have reported on the firm's dwindling numbers, though, to be fair, competitor Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) has also been providing investors with some unexpected bumps, although Disney (NYSE: DIS) has done better.
Gates is not alone in his criticism. Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder filed a similar report the previous day, and though there's no confirmation the two are in cahoots, together they do own one-fifth of the company.
Investors bid the stock up 30% this week. They must figure that anyone who can muscle the entire world into using Windows, or convince people to pay 25 bucks for parking to see the Redskins, can work other miracles as well. Time will tell.
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Seth Jayson loves to be scared until he's sick, but he has no position in any company mentioned. View his Fool profile here.
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