Hedge fund Elliot Management Corporation has taken a $1 billion stake in EMC Corp. and is now pushing the computer storage company to spin off software maker VMware, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.

EMC owns about 80 percent of VMware, which it purchased in 2004 for $700 million, according to Reuters, VMware accounted for approximately 22 percent of EMC’s revenue of $23.2 billion in 2013.