Digital Equipment Corp’s treasurer, Ilene Jacobs, wrote a memo last month warning executives that the company was using up cash too quickly, the Wall Street Journal reported – It is not my intent to cry ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, but I am feeling rather lonely over here watching the cash flow rapidly out of the company, she wrote – quarter to date, we have experienced another $275m to $325m outflow! and at our current rate of cash outflow, we will be borrowing against accounts receivable within three months – but don’t panic: DEC says the memo got wider circulation than intended and was written to energise the finance team to greater efforts to conserve cash.
