Early life and education
The son of an orthodontist[2] and a stockbroker, Dell attended Herod Elementary School in Houston,
Texas.[3] In a bid to enter business early, he applied to take a high school equivalency exam at age eight.
In his early teens, he invested his earnings from part-time jobs in stocks and precious metals.[4]
Dell purchased his first calculator at age seven and encountered his first teletype machine in junior high,
which he programmed after school. At age 15, after playing with computers at Radio Shack, he got his
first computer, an Apple II, which he promptly disassembled to see how it worked.[5] Dell
attendedMemorial High School in Houston, selling subscriptions to the Houston Post in the summer.
While making cold calls, Dell observed that newlyweds and people moving into new homes were most
likely to buy a subscription. He targeted this demographic group by collecting names from marriage and
mortgage applications. Dell earned $18,000 that year, exceeding the annual income of his history and
economics teacher.[6]
[edit]Career
Michael Dell lecturing at the Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco 2010
While a pre-med student at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell started an informal business upgrading
computers in room 2713 of the Dobie Centerresidential building. He then applied for a vendor license to
bid on contracts for the State of Texas, winning bids by not having the overhead of a computer store.[7][8][9]
In January 1984, Dell banked on his conviction that the potential cost savings of a manufacturer selling
PCs directly had enormous advantages over the conventional indirect retail channel. In January 1984,
Dell registered his company as "PC's Limited". Operating out of a condominium, the business sold
between $50,000 and $80,000 in upgraded PCs, kits, and add-on components. In May, Dell incorporated
the company as "Dell Computer Corporation" and relocated it to a business center in North Austin. The
company employed a few order takers, a few more people to fulfill them, and, as Dell recalled, a
manufacturing staff "consisting of three guys with screwdrivers sitting at six-foot tables." The
venture's capitalization cost was $1,000.[10][11]
In 1992 at the age of 27, Dell became the youngest CEO to have his company ranked
in Fortune magazine's list of the top 500 corporations.[12] In 1996, Dell started selling computers over the
Web, the same year his company launched its first servers. Dell Inc. soon reported about $1 million in
sales per day from [Link].[13] In the first quarter of 2001, Dell Inc. reached a world market share of 12.8
percent, passing Compaq to become the world's largest PC maker. The metric marked the first time the
rankings had shifted over the previous seven years. The company's combined shipments of desktops,
notebooks and servers grew 34.3 percent worldwide and 30.7 percent in the United States at a time when
competitor's sales were shrinking.[14]
In 1998, Dell founded MSD Capital L.P. to exclusively manage his and his family's investments.
Investment activities include publicly-traded securities, private equity activities, and real estate. The firm
employs 80 people and has offices in New York, Santa Monica and London. Dell is not involved in day-to-
day operations.[15]
At a speech before the Detroit Economic Club in November, 1999, Dell defined the "3 C's" of e-commerce
(content, commerce, and community) while articulating his strategy for offering a superior customer
experience online.[16]
On March 4, 2004, Dell stepped down as CEO of Dell Inc. but stayed as chairman of the board,
while Kevin B. Rollins, then president and COO, became president and CEO. On January 31, 2007, Dell
returned as CEO at the request of the board, succeeding Rollins.[17]
Accolades for Dell include: "Entrepreneur of the Year" (at age 24) from Inc. magazine;[18] "Top CEO in
American Business" from Worth magazine; "CEO of the Year" from Financial World, Industry
Week and Chief Executive magazines. Dell serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic
Forum, the executive committee of the International Business Council, the U.S. Business Council, and the
governing board of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India. He previously served as a member
of the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.[19]
In July 2010 Dell agreed to pay a $4 million penalty to settle SEC charges[20] of disclosure and accounting
fraud in relation to undisclosed payments from Intel Corporation. Dell Corporation and two other company
executives also paid to settle all the charges.
[edit]Writings
Dell's 1999 book, Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized an Industry, is an account of his early
life, his company's founding, growth and missteps, as well as lessons learned. The book was written in
collaboration with Catherine Fredman.[21]
[edit]Wealth and personal life
As of 2010, Forbes estimates Dell's net worth at $13.5 billion.[22]
Dell resides in Austin, Texas with his wife, Susan, and their four children.[23][24]
[edit]Philanthropy
In 1999, Michael and Susan Dell established the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which focuses on
children’s causes. By 2010, the foundation had committed more than $530 million to assist nonprofit
organizations serving urban communities in the United States and India.[25] The foundation has also
provided $65 million in grants to three health-related organizations associated with the University of
Texas: the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, the Dell Pediatric Research
Institute, and the Dell Children’s Medical Center, as well as funding for a new computer science building
on the University of Texas campus.[26][27]
In 2002, Dell received an honorary doctorate in economic Science from the University of Limerick in honor
of his investment in Ireland and the local community and for his support for educational initiatives.[28]
[edit]Political contributions
In 2004, Susan and Michael Dell were among 53 contributors of $250,000 (the maximum legal donation)
to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[29]
Biography
Michael Dell is the founder of the computer company Dell, Inc. He created one of the most
profitable computer companies in the world with annual sales of up to $50 billion American
dollars. Dell has also become one of the wealthiest people in the world with a 4th place listing
on the Forbes rich Americans list in 2005 with an estimated worth of $18 billion.
Michael Saul Dell was born on the 23rd of February, 1965 in Houston to an orthodontist father
and a mother that worked as a money manager. Dell was interested in computers from a very
young age and was already pulling them apart at the age of 15. He attended the University of
Texas with hopes of becoming a doctor but abandoned studies to start his own business at just
19 years of age.
With just one thousand dollars in his pocket Dell started "PC's Limited" in 1984. From his
university dorm room Dell started building and selling personal computers from stock computer
parts. The idea that set the young entrepreneur apart from others was to sell directly to the
customer, rather than going through a third party to sell his products.
PC's Limited allowed the customer to customize their computer before it was custom built to
their specifications. The prices could also be kept much lower than PC's Limited's competition
as they had no stores to maintain or middlemen to pay commissions to. All computers were sold
direct to the customer with the use of order forms, phone orders, and now Internet orders.
In 1988 PC's Limited had a name change to "Dell Computer Corporation" and had an initial
public offering (IPO) that valued the company at roughly $80 million. By 1992 Dell Computer
Corporation was listed on the Fortune 500 list of the five hundred largest companies in the
world, making Michael Dell the youngest ever CEO to head a Fortune 500 company.
The company continued to grow and expand dramatically year after year, eventually selling
more computers in the United States of America than any other PC company (including
Compaq).
"Dell Computer Corporation" became "Dell Inc." as they moved into other areas of business.
Dell Inc. now has an expanding product range that includes home entertainment systems and
personal devices.
Michael has published his partly autobiographical book "Direct From Dell: Strategies That
Revolutionized an Industry". The book is written in an entertaining, fast paced style that explains
how Dell turned his $1000 company into a mega-corporation worth more than $100 billion.
Dell stepped down from his role as CEO at Dell Inc. in 2004 but remains the Chairman of the
Board.
Michael Dell uses some of his great wealth for philanthropic activities and has started the
"Michael and Susan Dell Foundation" with his wife Susan. The organization is committed to
improving the lives of children in the United States of America and internationally. A letter from
Susan and Michael Dell states that the role of the foundation is to focus on "..quality education
and good health for children. We recognize that these issues are directly connected. If children
have the tools they need to take care of their bodies and minds now, their potential for success
in the future is greatly increased."
The Dell family live in one of the largest houses in Austin, Texas and has been reported to be
the 15th largest house in the world.
(1965-)
Dell Computer Corporation
Overview
Michael Dell started his company, Dell Computer Corporation, when he was a
college freshman in 1984. By the early 1990s, the company had exceeded $500
million in annual revenues, and Dell had become the youngest CEO of a
Fortune 500 corporation. Although he experienced troubled times in 1993, he
developed new corporate strategies, and by 1997 he was predicting that his
company would lead the personal computer industry by the year 2000.
Personal Life
Dell was born in Houston, Texas, in February 1965, the son of Dr. Alexander
Dell, an orthodontist, and his wife Lorraine, a stockbroker. In October 1989,
Dell married Susan Lieberman, a commercial leasing agent. The couple have
two children. At one point, Dell would often tell his employees that his
daughter’s first words were a plea to beat the competition: “Daddy, kill
Compaq. Daddy, kill IBM.”
When Michael Dell was only eight years old, he sent off for information on a
high-school equivalency diploma, hoping he could avoid putting in a full 12
years in school. His parents, however kept him in school and later sent him to
the University of Texas at Austin, hoping he might become a doctor. With his
fledgling computer company (which he operated from his dorm room) making
$80,000 a month, however, he had other plans. After his freshman year, he
told them he wanted to spend the summer working in his business, and if
things did not work out with his venture, he would return to school. He never
went back.
If there is such a thing as a born entrepreneur, Dell surely is one. When he was
only 12, he made $2,000 through a stamp and baseball card trading enterprise
that he operated through the mail. In high school, as a newspaper delivery boy
for the Houston Post, he aggressively sought out new subscribers by obtaining
mailing lists of newlyweds, then sending them a trial offer of two weeks’ free
service, which he then followed up with phone calls. The extremely
enterprising young man made over $18,000 this way, which he used to pay
cash for a fully loaded BMW—even though he was not yet able to drive.
This period in his life is also when Michael Dell discovered computers and
found that he enjoyed taking them apart and putting them back together. He
soon realized that he could make money by adding components to units and
selling them for a profit. Soon he started doing business through magazines,
as he had earlier operated his stamp and card trading business. In college, he
operated his business out of his dorm room, which irritated his roommates so
much that they barricaded his door with piles of his computer equipment.
Career Details
Soon after he left the University of Texas in the summer of 1984, Dell
incorporated his company, PCs Unlimited, and began operating out of a
storefront. The company marketed equipment made by such computer
companies as IBM and Compaq, to which they added various features. By
early 1985 it had 30 employees, and in July 1985 introduced its own model,
the Turbo PC. He borrowed money from his family, but soon repaid it as his
company grew to annual sales of $30 million. In 1987, PCs Unlimited became
Dell Computer and in 1988, Dell began selling stock. Its sales that year
reached $159 million, and by 1993, the figure was $2 billion. Then came a
period of challenge and a slump in stock prices, prompting Dell to change his
strategy. In 1994, the new Dell Latitude XP laptop model was launched and
confidence in the company soared. From 1990 to 1997 Dell’s stock has
increased by 20,000 percent, from $0.39 to $80.00 a share.
Michael Dell has played a great deal on his image as a “whiz kid,” but the 1993
downturn showed the Dell Computer leadership that it was time to adopt a
new corporate attitude to replace the brash image that had attended the
company’s beginnings. Dell was a billion-dollar company, and it had grown
big and unwieldy. Before Dell suffered the fate of other pioneers who have lost
control of their own companies, he brought in a number of older executives
with proven records, reorganized operations, and put his CEO Mort Topfer in
charge of running Dell on a day-to-day basis. Dell recognized that his own
strengths lay in maintaining an eye on the company’s overall vision, rather
than specific details.
Among the most successful strategies employed by the Dell Computer
Corporation is the direct-sales model, which provides a made-to-order
personal computer that is shipped within 36 hours. Customers can place
orders by calling a toll-free number or by logging on to the company’s web
site, where models can be customized on-screen, priced, and ordered with a
credit card. To ensure timely shipping, Dell maintains close relationships with
suppliers, some of whom have built new facilities near Dell headquarters
outside of Austin, Texas. According to an April 1998 article
in InternetWeek, “The combination of direct sales and the Internet have made
Dell Computer a fierce competitor that has kept heavyweights like Compaq
and IBM scurrying to keep up.”
Dell’s sales strategy has been to market to large corporations and computer
enthusiasts rather than to first-time buyers, reasoning that a consumer is a
first-time buyer only once. Among its largest customers are Shell Oil, Boeing,
and Toyota. Another aspect of the company’s business success stems from the
fact it only manufactures units it has already sold. Therefore, it maintains no
inventory and is free of storage and other overhead costs associated with
maintaining a large warehouse stock.
Social and Economic Impact
In 1991 Michael Dell said that he hoped to make his company a billion-dollar-
a-year enterprise, a goal he has surpassed significantly. In September 1997
Andrew E. Serwer asserted in Fortune that “Dell Computer has become the
driving force in the PC business.” By fiscal 1998 Dell’s revenues topped $12
billion, according toInternetWeek, which also reported the company’s income
at $944 million for the same period. Dell has also announced that he hopes to
remain CEO for the next 60 years, and his 1993 reorganization helped to
ensure that he would maintain power. Describing the position of Dell
Computer in the year 2000, Dell told an InternetWeekinterviewer, “We don’t
want to be all things to all people. We only have six percent of the PC market
share. Some analysts have said that by growing at 40 percent a year for five
years, we’ll have 12 percent share. That would be a good position to be in.” He
has said that he is not afraid of dire predictions that the personal computer
market will be saturated, since his focus is on repeat rather than first-time
buyers.
Chronology: Michael Dell
1965: Born.
1984: Founded Dell Computer.
1988: Took Dell Computer public.
1990: Named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Inc. magazine.
1992: Became the youngest CEO ever to make the Fortune 500.
1993: CEO of the Year, Financial World magazine.
The success of Dell Computer has brought numerous awards and distinctions
to founder Michael Dell, including an Entrepreneur of the Year citation
from Inc. magazine in 1990. In addition, he was named “Man of the Year”
by PC magazine in 1992 and “CEO of the Year” by Financial World in 1993.
Dell is also the richest man in Texas with earnings of up to $10 million a day.
Comparing his own success with that of Dell, whose company is an important
Microsoft customer, Bill Gates noted in Fortune, “We have both stuck with our
convictions, and learned from our mistakes Michael has the same passion for
the industry I do.”
Read more: Dell, Michael - Overview, Personal Life, Career Details, Social and
Economic Impact, Chronology: Michael
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