by Chris Mugan, Spinner
U2's frontman Bono looks set to make a mint from the sale of troubled smart phone maker Palm.
Bono's private equity company Elevation Partners is a major investor in the company currently seeking buyers. In December 2008, Elevation bought $100 million (£64.8 million) of Palm shares at $3.24 (£2.10) a pop to take its stake up to 41 per cent. These investments jumped up 32 percent in value last week to $5.16 (£3.34) a share.
Palm originally made PDA devices and recently launched the Pre and Pixi smartphones, as rivals to the iPhone. While the handsets received critical acclaim, sales have failed to match expectations. Palm has posted losses for the last 11 financial quarters, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Elevation bought a 25 percent stake in the firm in 2007 and helped install Jonathan Rubinstein, former head of Apple's iPhone division, as chairman. The Irish rock star joined the US-based company shortly after its creation in 2004, when it was named after the U2 song.
While Bono is more associated with causes such as AIDS and debt relief, Elevation specialises in new media and entertainment with $1.9 billion (£1.23 billion) of assets under its control, the Telegraph reported. Last month, online publication 24/7 Wall Street called him the "worst investor in America" due to Elevation's "unprecedented strong of disastrous investments."
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