Dan Bobkoff

Dell's founder and another tech company have announced plans to take the computer giant private. While companies can benefit from withdrawing from the stock market, there are potential pitfalls as well.

For The Publicly Traded, Going Private Can Be Risky Business

Dan Bobkoff

Going public is typically considered an achievement. But reverting to private ownership — as computer giant Dell plans to do — can have benefits, too, like enabling managers to focus on long-term strategies or conduct shake-ups in private. Still, withdrawing from the stock market also carries some risks.

Todd Macy, a banker from Marin County, Calif., was the victim of identity theft. Nearly a year after filing his return, he's still waiting for his federal tax refund.

What Happens When Someone Else Gets Your Tax Refund

Dan Bobkoff

If you usually wait until April to file your taxes, you might want to hurry up — before identity thieves beat you to it. Using stolen names and Social Security numbers, these criminals file fake tax returns. This generates big, and fraudulent, refunds, before the real taxpayer gets around to filing.

Employee Shopping: 'Acqui-Hire' Is The New Normal In Silicon Valley

Dan Bobkoff

Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Zynga are on a shopping spree. They're buying small startups with innovative products and apps. But many times the buyers don't care about what the small companies were producing. They just want the engineers.