In the history of technology, few names evoke as much emotion—whether admiration or cynicism—as Michael S. Dell. That’s the name of the founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies, the world’s biggest technology company, whose college-dorm-room brainstorm built a worldwide empire that has changed the way businesses and consumers obtain access to computing power. His story is of daring ambition, ongoing reinvention and business acumen that was clear long before he was old enough to be called C.E.O.
Early Life and Education:
Michael Saul Dell (23-02-65) was born in Houston, Texas. He exhibited an entrepreneurial flair in his early years. Intellectually competitive in the buying and selling of stamps, and is said to have earned $18,000 by selling weekly subscriptions to newspapers by the age of 15. By 1983 he had enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin as a biology student.
But he failed to go to his lectures, preferring to take apart and fix IBM personal computers. In 1984 he decided to drop out of university, and go all out on his personal computing venture. Michael Dell founded PC’s Limited (later Dell Computer Corporation) in his dorm room at the University of Texas at the age of 19 with only a $1,000 startup capital.
The model was revolutionary. Direct sales to consumers, eliminating the middleman and providing custom computers at a lower price than any of his rivals. The company grew at an incredible rate, clocking up $ 1 billion in annual revenues after a decade. In 2013 Dell took it private again in one of the world’s largest tech LBOs, valued at around $ 24.4 billion.
In 2016 he executed the largest-ever technology deal, buying the $67 billion EMC Corporation, a move that proved to be transformational before taking the recently created Dell Technologies public again in 2018. No doubt about it, Michael Dell’s net worth is over $55 billion so he is often ranked amongst the richest individuals alive.
Away from his business dealings he is active in a charitable foundation that he and his wife started called the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. This foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars throughout the United States and overseas in support of children’s health, educational and opportunities.
Michael S. Dell remains a central figure of present-day enterprise. The direct sales model he pioneered shattered an industry, and his capacity to reinvent a firm through successive technology generations shows leadership skill far transcending instinc. He exemplifies how boldest companies can sometimes be created not in the boardroom, but in the mind.
