Michael Dell

Lore & Background

Michael Dell was born in 1965 in Houston to a Jewish family. His father was an orthodontist and his mother a stockbroker. He attended Herod Elementary School and later Memorial High School, where he sold subscriptions to the Houston Post. To please his parents, he took up pre-med at the University of Texas in 1983, but he continued his business activities, earning $18,000 in one year from targeted newspaper subscriptions. After earning a gross profit of nearly $200,000 in his first year, he dropped out at age 19.

While a freshman, Dell started assembling and selling PC upgrade kits from his dorm room. In January 1984, he registered his company as "PC's Limited," selling $50,000 to $80,000 worth of PC upgrades. He incorporated as Dell Computer Corporation in May 1984. In 1992, aged 27, he became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In 1996, Dell started selling computers over the Web, and by March 1997, dell.com reported about $1 million in sales per day. In the first quarter of 2001, Dell Inc. surpassed Compaq to become the world's largest PC maker.

In January 2013, Dell bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion, the biggest management buyout since the Great Recession. The company went private in October 2013 and public again in December 2018. In 2015, Dell Inc. announced its intent to acquire EMC Corporation for $67 billion, the highest-valued tech acquisition in history, finalized in September 2016. In May 2024, Dell announced a partnership with Nvidia and ServiceNow to develop "AI factories."

Reader's Guide

Michael Dell's significance lies in revolutionizing the personal computer industry through direct-to-consumer sales and build-to-order manufacturing, which cut costs and allowed rapid growth. His company became the world's largest PC maker in 2001, and he later led a historic $24.4 billion management buyout in 2013 to take Dell private, followed by the $67 billion acquisition of EMC in 2016, creating Dell Technologies. His wealth, estimated at $212.8 billion as of May 2026, places him among the world's richest. Through the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, established in 1999, he has donated over $3 billion, primarily to children's causes. In December 2025, the Dells announced a $6.25 billion donation to investment accounts for children in low-income ZIP codes. Dell also served on advisory councils, including the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and was reappointed by President Donald Trump in 2026. His legacy includes transforming technology infrastructure and philanthropy at scale.

Did You Know?

• Michael Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at age 19 after earning nearly $200,000 in his first year of business.
• In 1992, at age 27, he became the youngest CEO of a company ranked in Fortune magazine's list of the top 500 corporations.
• In July 2010, Dell Inc. agreed to pay a $100 million penalty to settle SEC charges of disclosure and accounting fraud.
• In December 2025, Michael and Susan Dell announced a $6.25 billion donation to provide $250 to 25 million children in low-income ZIP codes.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"What would I do [with Apple]? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." — Michael Dell "Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people … or find a different room.." — Michael Dell "Commencement address to University of Texas at Austin in 2003." — Michael Dell "You don't have to be a genius or a visionary or even a college graduate to be successful. You just need a framework and a dream." — Michael Dell