Billionaire Gores Brothers Duel Over Technology Castoffs

Step into Tom Gores's office high above Los Angeles, and you forget the world economy is facing recession, the stock market is sinking along with corporate profits and California's Silicon Valley is becoming a virtual dust bowl as sales of semiconductors, routers and computers dry up.

Gores, 37, owns Platinum Equity LLC. The firm, with $3 billion in sales, acquires struggling divisions from technology companies, turns them around and collects the profits.