Why did Ed Esber leave Ashton-Tate Corp? According to the monthly Data Based Advisor, Philippe Kahn of Borland International Inc approached Esber early last year when Ashton’s shares were trading at $12 and suggested a share exchange merger into the company on condition it drop most of its products and cease legal proceedings against Fox Software Inc over FoxBase: Esber thought this was a good idea, and presented it to his board as such – but not only did the board hate Kahn’s offer, but they also asked Esber to quit because of his support for the plan – he did that day; Ashton-Tate’s shares now trade at $6, Borland soared to $52 from $17.
