Founder of household name Dell Computers and Texan native, 49 year old Michael Dell is one of the original PC geeks; from humble beginnings in his dormitory room at the University of Texas to founding a multi-billion dollar corporation, Dell followed the technological curve from a young age; buying his first calculator at age 7, pulling apart his first computer at fifteen, and assembling and selling upgrade kits for PCs in his spare time at University, there was no other direction than global domination; the guy was onto something good.
Michael’s success stemmed from his theory that manufacturers selling directly was a far more effective and cost-reductive method than the retail method that most PC sellers employed at the time – obviously a winner, as by the first quarter of 2001 Dell Inc. reached a world market share of 12.8 percent.
In 1992, twenty-seven year old Dell became the youngest CEO ranked in the Fortune 500, and twenty years later, Forbes estimated his net worth at $15.9 billion. On March 4, 2004, Dell stepped down as CEO, staying on as chairman, but then returned to his position three years later.
Dell married his wife Susan in 1989, and still lives with her and his four children in Texas. In 1999, Michael and Susan established the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which directs its efforts mainly toward changing the lives of children brought up in impoverished urban circumstances, offering them supports in education, health and family economic stability.
Their foundation has also provided $65 million in grants to three health-related organisations: the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, the Dell Paediatric Research Institute, and the Dell Children’s Medical Center, all through his old stomping grounds, the University of Texas.
Dell serves on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, and has attended and participated actively in WEF for many years now.
In conjunction with BrightRock, we have taken to sharing the stories from our recently published World Economic Forum starter pack PDF, ‘A Veterans Guide to Surviving Davos’ with you – Follow the link to download the full document.