Only Venture Capitalists Profited from Bankrupt California Electronics Maker.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, August, 2003

By Jim Finkle, The Orange County Register, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 26--The fall of Orange County electronics maker DDi Corp. hurt employees, investors and creditors but not the venture capitalists who helped bring the company public.

At least $2 billion in stock value and money owed to creditors has been wiped out as a slump in the electronics industry and price-slashing by competitors in Asia helped force DDi to seek bankruptcy protection last week.

But the company's venture capitalists profited because they provided financial backing before the printed-circuit-board maker went public in April 2000, then sold their shares when the company's outlook was still positive.

That's the standard model that...