Sign Of An Apocalypse In Private Equity? - Buying out Microsoft ?

" Could Microsoft (MSFT ) be bought out? That's precisely what the Financial Times of London recently called for. A consortium of private equity firms, the FT wrote, could cobble together the $288 billion needed -- nearly nine times more than the largest deal ever made. Why dare? "In truth," wrote the FT, "Microsoft would be worth more off the [public] market than on it.""