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Michael Dell

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Michael Dell
Michael Dell, founder, chairman and CEO of Dell
Born
Michael Saul Dell

(1965-02-23) February 23, 1965 (age 59)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
(Dropped out)
Occupation(s)Founder, Chairman and CEO of Dell
Spouse(s)Susan Lynn Lieberman (October 28, 1989–present; 4 children)

Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and author. He is known as the founder and CEO of Dell Inc., one of the world’s leading sellers of personal computers (PCs). He was ranked the 41st richest person in the world on 2012 Forbes Billionaires list, with a net worth of US$15.9 billion as of March 2012.[1]

In 2011, his 243.35 million shares of Dell stock were worth Nil billion, giving him 12% ownership of the company.[2] His remaining wealth of roughly $10 billion is invested in other companies and is managed by a firm whose name, MSD Capital, incorporates Dell's initials.[3] On January 5, 2013 it was announced that Michael Dell had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest leveraged buyout since the Great Recession.

Early life and education

Michael Dell was born in 1965 in Houston, Texas, to a Jewish family whose surname reflects the translation into English of the original German/Yiddish Thal ("valley" or "dale [q.v.]"; modern common-noun spelling Tal) upon the family's immigration to the United States.[4] The son of Lorraine Charlotte (née Langfan), a stockbroker,[5] and Alexander Dell, an orthodontist, Michael Dell attended Herod Elementary School in Houston, Texas.[6] 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.[7]

Dell purchased his first calculator at age seven and encountered his first teletype machine in junior high, programming the latter 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.[8] Dell attended Memorial High School in Houston, selling subscriptions to the Houston Post in the summer. While making cold calls, he noted that the persons most likely to purchase subscriptions were those in the process of establishing permanent geographic and social presence; he then 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.[9]

Career

A PC's Limited Turbo PC signed by Dell
Michael Dell lecturing at the Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco 2010

While a freshman pre-med student at the University of Texas at Austin, Dell started an informal business putting together and selling upgrade kits for personal computers[10] in Room 2713 of the Dobie Center residential 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.[11][12][13]

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.[14][15]

In 1992 aged 27, he became the youngest CEO to have his company ranked in Fortune magazine's list of the top 500 corporations.[16] 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 dell.com.[17] 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 competitors' sales were shrinking.[18]

In 1998, Dell founded MSD Capital L.P. to manage 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 himself is not involved in day-to-day operations.[19] On March 4, 2004, Dell stepped down as CEO, but stayed as chairman of Dell Inc.'s board, while Kevin 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.[20]

Penalty

In July 2010 Dell Inc. agreed to pay a $100 million penalty to settle SEC charges[21] of disclosure and accounting fraud in relation to undisclosed payments from Intel Corporation. Michael Dell and former CEO Kevin Rollins agreed to pay $4 million each, former CFO James Schneider to pay $3 million to settle the charges. [22]

Accolades

Accolades for Dell include "Entrepreneur of the Year" (at age 24) from Inc. magazine;[23] "Top CEO in American Business" from Worth magazine; "CEO of the Year" from Financial World, Industry Week and Chief Executive magazines.

Affiliations

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.[24]

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.[25]

Wealth and personal life

In February 2012, Forbes estimated Dell's net worth at $15.9 billion.[1] Dell married Susan Lynn Leiberman on October 28, 1989 in Austin, Texas; the couple resides there with their four children.[26][27]

Philanthropy

In 1999, Michael and Susan Dell established the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which focuses on, among other causes, grants, urban education, childhood health and family economic stability. The foundation has 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 at the University of Texas at Austin campus.[28][29]

By 2010, the foundation had committed more than $650 million to children's issues and community initiatives in the United States, India and South Africa as of 2010.[30] Today the foundation has over $466 million assets under management.[31]

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.[32]

In 2012, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation committed $50 million for medical education. The Dell School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Austin will begin enrolling students in 2016. [33]

Political contributions

In 2004, Susan and Michael Dell were among 53 contributors of $250,000 each (the maximum legal donation) to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[34]

Criticism

In the April 2011 issue of Mother Jones, a timeline of Michael Dell's life is detailed in American Magnate: Michael Dell: How a homegrown geek outsourced, downsized, and tax-breaked his way to the top. The article juxtaposes Dell's spending on luxurious homes and private jet travel with his pursuit of tax breaks and tax holidays and Dell Computer's eventual offshoring of jobs overseas after receiving the incentives for setting up shop locally.[35]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Michael Dell Profile". World's Billionaires. Forbes. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  2. ^ Brown, Joshua (2011-03-20). "Michael Dell's Very Big Stock Purchase". The Reformed Broker. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  3. ^ Calnan, Christopher (2010-02-07). "Managing Michael Dell's multibillions". BizJournals. Retrieved 2011-10-15.
  4. ^ Lone stars of David: the Jews of Texas, By Hollace Ava Weiner, Kenneth Roseman, page 257, UPNE, 2007
  5. ^ Biography of Michael Dell. businessweek.com (From The Associated Press; 2007-01-31).
  6. ^ History of Our School. Es.houstonisd.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-12.
  7. ^ "Biography: Michael Dell Founder & Chairman, Dell Inc". American Academy of Achievement. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
  8. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. pp. 6–7. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Kirk Ladendorf. "Dell remembers his beginning while looking toward the future" Austin American-Statesman. November 27, 2011, pp. E1, E2.
  11. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Larry Faulkner, President, University of Texas at Austin (2003). Michael Dell Remarks. dell.com
  13. ^ Pletz, John (2004-05-02). "Business, Personal Finance, Technology, Employment news for Austin and Central Texas". Statesman.com. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  14. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Kessler, Michelle (March 4, 2004). "Dell founder passes torch to new CEO". USA Today. Retrieved January 6, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Michael Dell". National Press Club Summary. National Public Radio. June 8, 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  17. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. p. xiv. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Kanellos, Michael (April 1, 2001). "Dell beats Compaq for No. 1 ranking". CNET News. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  19. ^ "MSC Capital – About Us". Retrieved April 17, 2010.
  20. ^ "Dell Chief Replaced by Founder", New York Times.
  21. ^ "Dell Inc., Michael S. Dell, Kevin B. Rollins, James M. Schneider, Leslie L. Jackson, Nicholas A.R. Dunning". Sec.gov. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  22. ^ "Dell Inc., Michael S. Dell, Kevin B. Rollins, James M. Schneider, Leslie L. Jackson, Nicholas A.R. Dunning". Sec.gov. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  23. ^ Richman, Tom (January 1, 1990). "The Entrepreneur of the Year". Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  24. ^ "Executive Team: Michael S. Dell". Dell Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
  25. ^ Dell, Michael (1999). Direct from Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. HarperBusiness. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ Biographical details and interview. Fastcompany.com (2001-02-28). Retrieved on 2012-07-12.
  27. ^ A Focus on Efficiency, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 6, 2006.
  28. ^ "Childhood Health". Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
  29. ^ Warden, Michael L. (2006). "Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Grants $50 Million to University of Texas to Bring Excellence in Children's Health and Education to Austin". University of Texas. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  30. ^ Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Applauds the First Lady's 'Let's Move!' Campaign To End Child Obesity
  31. ^ The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation company overview
  32. ^ Annette Condon (2002-05-29), Michael Dell Conferred with Honorary Doctorate from the University of Limerick. University of Limerick Press Release
  33. ^ http://www.statesman.com/news/news/dell-family-foundation-to-donate-60-million-for-ut/nT98b/
  34. ^ "Financing the inauguration". USA Today. 2005-01-16. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
  35. ^ Harkinson, Josh (2011). "American magnate: Michael Dell: how a homegrown geek outsourced, downsized, and tax-breaked his way to the top". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 10, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

Bibliography

  • Dell, Michael (1999). Direct From Dell: Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry. New York, New York: HarperColins Publishers. ISBN 0-88730-914-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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