Divorce, Dotcom Style

Talk about a wild ride. Kristian Dicke and Richard Geibel, two Germans in their 30s who had been university roommates, launched their business-to-business exchange March 11, 2000. That was the day after the nasdaq peak, the beginning of the yearlong global tech-stock slide. Matchbid — which has since transformed itself into a software firm — has survived.

The friendship hasn't. The two former partners now only communicate through lawyers. Dicke is optimistic about Matchbid's future. Geibel has abandoned the New Economy for the Old.

Dicke had been destined to head Altenloh Brinck & Co....