Eagle computer question?

From: Wayne M. Smith <wmsmith_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Sat Jul 5 17:35:01 2003

> On Sat, 5 Jul 2003, George R. Gonzalez wrote:
> > Well, I've done it now. I put an old Eagle computer up for
> auction,
> > and I included a bit of history about "Eagle Conmputer", but now I
> > wonder if I goofed up big-time on the history. As I recall,
> Many many
> > years ago (around 1982?) I read in InfoWorld that Eagle Computer's
> > president met a tragic end, just after the company went
> public, or get
> > a big bunch of financing, or somesuch. Something along the
> lines of
> > his car ran off the road after a celebratory party. If you've
>
> Yep.
> My recollection was that it was a brand new Ferrari.
>
You're right -- here's from a recent Washington Post article:

The Washington Post, December 16, 1999

December 16, 1999, Thursday, Final Edition

SECTION: STYLE; Pg. C01

LENGTH: 4021 words

HEADLINE: Cashing In the Chips; When a Little E-Idea Is All It Takes to
Become Insanely Rich, Does Wealth Lose Its Value?

SERIES: THE NEW GILDED AGE; Pg. occ.

BYLINE: David Streitfeld, Washington Post Staff Writer

DATELINE: PALO ALTO, Calif.

BODY:


The Silicon Valley dream has always been about getting your company to
the point where complete strangers are able and willing to buy stock in
it. Sixteen years ago, a start-up called Eagle Computer Inc. underwent
that fabled rite of passage. Eagle President Dennis Barnhart celebrated
the day of the stock market debut by drinking with friends. Then he got
into his new red Ferrari. When he reached the highway, he hit the gas.
Isn't that the point of having a new Ferrari?

Barnhart crashed through a guardrail and was killed. Eagle Computer
didn't last much longer. What survived was the moral, a kind of object
lesson that the grizzled oldsters here would pass on to the wannabe
entrepreneurs, kids fresh out of engineering school who had nothing but
a dream of taking technology to the masses.

Sure, you can get rich here, the wise old hand would say. That's
allowed; it's even expected. But don't flaunt it, don't be obnoxious
about it, don't get carried away. Because that's what Dennis Barnhart
did, and look what happened to him.
Received on Sat Jul 05 2003 - 17:35:01 BST