More consolidation in the software industry. Aivars Lode Avantce

For Dell Deal, Silver Lake May Find a Partner in Microsoft

BY WILLIAM ALDEN

Silver Lake may have found a deep-pocketed investor to join a takeover effort for Dell. Microsoft, Dell’s longtime ally, is in talks to contribute up to several billion dollars to a potential bid, which could exceed $20 billion, a person briefed on the matter tells DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced. Microsoft, which has not yet made a commitment, has more than $66 billion in cash on hand. The company has done business with Silver Lake in the past, including when Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011.

“A vibrant Dell is an important part of Microsoft’s plans to make Windows more relevant for the tablet era, when more and more devices come with touch screens,” Mr. de la Merced writes. Their partnership is especially important as Microsoft’s move into making hardware has strained the company’s relationships with PC makers. Shares of Dell rose 2.2 percent on Tuesday to $13.12, while shares of Microsoft fell 0.4 percent to $27.15 after CNBC reported Microsoft’s potential involvement in a deal.

MISSING AT DAVOS: TALK OF CRISIS, AND PARTIES  |  The official agenda at the World Economic Forum includes few meetings on financial risk, creating the impression that the world’s leaders have other priorities. “This is a problem,” Steven M. Davidoff writes in the Deal Professor column. “We are five years past the beginnings of the financial crisis, and there is still no real explanation for what happened, let alone a solution.” He continues: “If the financial titans gathered there are really going to fight off the small but growing number of critics who are calling for the breakup of the big banks or even more likely a stronger Volcker Rule, they should put forth an alternative or an explanation for why these blowups keep occurring.”

On Wednesday, there was some discussion about financial regulation. The hedge fund manager Paul Singer said defining proprietary trading — a major task of the Dodd-Frank law — was a “metaphysical exercise,” according to Lauren Tara LaCapra of Reuters. Axel Weber, the chairman of UBS, addressed the issue of overseeing so-called shadow banks.

This year’s World Economic Forum seems decidedly more sober than in the past. Gone are the big dinners and blowout parties, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes. Google, Accel Partners and Nike, which usually host memorable bashes, are opting out this year. “Have those companies given up on Davos for good? Is there something bigger here at play than just parties?”

PROSECUTING WALL STREET  |  Should bankers have faced criminal action for events surrounding the financial crisis? Why didn’t the government crack down more forcefully? Those questions were tackled on Tuesday night in “The Untouchables,” a special on PBS’s “Frontline.” DealBook’s Peter Eavis is taking questions on the topic in a live chat that begins at 2 p.m.

ON THE AGENDA  |  Amid reports of a possible weakening of demand for its products,Apple announces earnings after the market closes. Netflix and Amgen also report results on Wednesday evening, and United Technologies and US Airways report on Wednesday morning. The International Monetary Fund updates its world economic outlook at 10 a.m. George Soros is on CNBC at 10:10 a.m. James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, is on Bloomberg TV at 11:30 a.m. An interview withJamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase airs on CNBC at 3:10 p.m. Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital is on CNBC at 5 p.m.

MORGAN STANLEY’S PAY LATER PLAN  |  Morgan Stanley has been trying to cut expenses by shedding thousands of employees over the last year. But the firm is increasingly pushing bills into the future by deferring compensation for its employees — allowing it to wait before recording that expense. DealBook’s Susanne Craig reports: “In recent years, Morgan Stanley has been deferring its cash bonuses for top earnings for up to three years. Not surprisingly, the amount of deferred compensation — cash and stock — has risen sharply at Morgan Stanley, according to regulatory filings. In 2009, the firm deferred 40 percent of its total compensation. That percentage climbed to 60 percent in 2010 and 75 percent in 2011.”

Morgan Stanley says the move amounts to good corporate governance. But “eventually that tab will come due,” said a rival Wall Street executive who asked not to be named. Morgan’s stock rose after the firm reported earnings on Friday, and it closed up 2.7 percent on Tuesday.