Michael Dell has tried to stay out of the headlines as the soap opera for the company he founded more than two decades ago in his University of Texas dorm room played out. 

But that's about to change as the Round Rock, Texas, company reviews offers that are superior to the $24.4 billion joint bid made last month by Dell and Silver Lake Partners.

Billionaire Carl Icahn, who owns 4.6% of Dell (DELL), has offered to buy as much as 58.1% of Dell's stock for $15 a share.  Blackstone's offer values Dell at more than $14.25 a share. Dell and Silver Lake's bid is for $13.65 per share. Shares of Dell traded Monday afternoon at $14.54, a sign that many investors are expecting a higher bid as well. 

After weeks of high-profile headlines and negative publicity associated with its 787 Dreamliner, things may finally be looking up for Boeing (BA) – which has several big deals in the works.

According to Reuters, Philippine Airlines is considering the purchase of 20 wide-body 777X jets. The 777X is an upgrade on Boeing's current 777 model, designed for long-range flights.

The airline, owned by Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp., signed a $7 billion order last year with Boeing's European rival, Airbus (EADSY). But any deal for the Boeing jets “depends on the price," said Philippine Airlines president Ramon Ang on Monday. "We are looking at the new Boeing 777X. We may buy 10 and, if it performs well, we'll exercise an option for 10 more.”

 

Updated 4:50 p.m. ET.

The image of suburbia as a land of plenty, offering refuge to families fleeing urban poverty, may be about as outmoded as a wood-panel station wagon. 

That's because poverty has moved to the suburbs. The number of suburban residents living in poverty jumped by almost 64% from 2000 to 2011, which means about 16.4 million suburban residents now struggle with low incomes, Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Brookings Institute, told MSN moneyNOW. Her research will be published in May in a book called "Confronting Suburban Poverty in America."

That means suburbia is now home to more poor people than cities, which house 13.4 million people living in poverty, according to the institute's study of 95 U.S. metropolitan areas. 

 

The human health costs of the obesity epidemic have been well documented, but a new study is shedding light on another set of victims: horses mounted by overweight riders. 

One-third of recreational riders are too obese for their steeds, putting the animals at risk for health problems including lameness and back pain, reports the U.K.'s Daily Mail, which cited a study from the Journal of Veterinary Behavior. 

That may lead to higher health care costs for horses, which can already be considerable. While amounts vary, horse owners typically spend about $300 a year on routine health care for their animals, although that can increase to thousands if a horse is injured or ill, according to Equine.com.

 

McDonald's (MCD) is terrified about losing an incredibly important audience: adults ages 18 to 32, also known as "millennials."

This age group doesn't care much for the fast food chain. In fact, McDonald's doesn't even crack the top 10 of this group's favorite restaurants. That's according to a company memo obtained by Advertising Age magazine.

That's one reason McDonald's is launching a new product called the McWrap. The chicken wrap sandwich comes in three flavors and will be available next week.

Without the McWrap, McDonald's would lose millennial customers to Subway, the memo said. The company is calling the McWrap the "Subway buster." 

Updated March 26, 1:30 p.m.

Shares of Best Buy (BBY) were rising in Monday morning trading after founder Richard Schulze returned as chairman emeritus and two of his former colleagues agreed to join the board of the consumer electronics retailer, whose fortunes Wall Street analysts are increasingly convinced are getting better.

Schulze earlier tried to take the Richfield, Minn., company private but was unable to attract sufficient financing. He left his post at Best Buy last year after failing to notify the board about an affair CEO Brian Dunn was having with a subordinate.

Schulze, however, has remained a major shareholder, and now he's coming back. As per an existing agreement, he nominated former Chief Executive Brad Anderson and former Chief Operating Officer Al Lenzmeier to the board of directors. Morningstar analyst R.J.Hottovy told Reuters that Schulze's decision is good news and will save the retailer from a huge increase in its debt load that usually comes with a leveraged buyout. 

Dairy Queen is synonymous with summer treats, from soft-serve ice cream to Blizzard frozen desserts. 

But the 73-year-old company -- which is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) -- wants to lure customers with a "5 Buck Lunch," which it thinks will help it "steal share" from other quick-service restaurants, marketing chief Barry Westrum told Nation's Restaurant News. 

The chain started developing the idea last summer and offered a limited-time offer in the fall. The permanent rollout will offer a $5 menu between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and provide the choice of a Grillburger with cheese, chicken strips or a chili cheese dog, as well as medium fries, a medium soda and a soft-serve sundae. 

Why make the $5 menu a standing offer?

 

Californians might like to think of themselves as being on the cutting edge of American trends, but their state remains woefully isolated when it comes to oil and gas supplies.

The Golden State ranks first in the nation for gasoline consumption, and it has has some of the nation's highest gas taxes. Many of its counties use a more expensive gasoline mixture that creates less smog and other pollutants to meet the state's strict air quality standards.

And while it remains a major oil producer, California has a relatively small number of oil refineries and terminals. Also, only a very limited number of of pipelines bring in refined gas and oil overland from elsewhere in the country. In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times, last year marked the first time that California had to import more than half of its oil (50.7%) from overseas.