Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), will not go to jail for his own misdeeds of those of his company. It appears that the tech firm will dodge a bullet because of its cozy relationship with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the world’s largest maker of PC chips.

Dell said in a statement, the settlement would “involve alleged violations of negligence-based fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, as well as other non-fraud based provisions.” Dell will take a $100 million charge in its first quarter to cover settlement charges.There is still some chance that Michael Dell will face fraud charges. The company’s board says that it supports its CEO. Dell has also indicated that it does not believe that any actions against the CEO will bar him from acting as an officer or director of a public company. In other words, he will almost certainly keep his job.

If the SEC settles, it will have lost the chance to have a decisive victory in a case against an extremely high-profile business executive, which will almost certainly lead to charges that it is still willing to settle cases for modest amounts and leave their executives alone. The federal government may also believe that it could not win a case against Michael Dell.

The most extraordinary aspect of the case and possible settlement is that Michael Dell will keep his job. The support of his board seems steady, otherwise it would not be inclined to make public statements to that effect.

Dell has come close to ruining his company’s prospects to be the top PC company in the world. The firm’s shares have dropped from $25 to $12 in the last two years, significantly underperforming the stock of rival Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

It is good to be the founder and largest shareholder of a large public company. Rank has its privileges

Douglas A. McIntyre

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