Idealab sued by its investors

NEWS Internet incubator Idealab is being sued by many of its biggest investors, who claim that most of the companies it created failed, and that its senior management only kept things running to finance their own lifestyles. The plaintiffs - including PC giant Dell - put around $1bn into Idealab, which closed most of its operations in March 2001. They now want the company dissolved altogether in an attempt to gain some of their money back. The legal action follows Idealab's offer to buy out investors for 10 cents for each dollar of investment. Most shareholders declined to take up that offer, this morning's Wall Street Journal reports. Idealab refutes the allegations of financial mismanagement.