Most great stories have humble beginnings. Mattel was started in a garage, Facebook was started in a dorm room, McDonalds was a small carhop, and KFC was started by a 62 year old grandpa. Dell is no exception to this trend. Originally started in a garage by a college freshman, it is now one of the most powerful and recognizable technology companies in the world. Here is a brief history of Dell’s modest beginnings, and how it continues to be successful today.
1984 — Our story begins with Michael Dell, a 19-year-old University of Texas student. He founded PC’s Limited with $1,000 and a game-changing vision for the technology industry. In fact, he left school after one year to focus his energy full-time into his business.
1988 — PC’s Limited becomes the Dell Computer Corporation, and Dell raises $30 million of new capital, issuing 3.5 million shares. It is now an official public company after an initial public offering.
1992 — Fortune magazine includes Dell in its list of the world’s 500 largest companies. This makes 27-year-old Michael Dell the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company in history!
1996 — Realizing that individuals and households had little to no focus in Dell’s marketing, Dell.com is launched to appeal to a larger consumer market. The website is an instant hit, generating $1 million in sales per day just six months after the site is live.
2001 — Dell attains and maintains the #1 rating in computer reliability and customer service, according to consumer reports from the mid-90s to now.
2005 — Dell reaches the top of the list of “America’s Most Admired Companies” in Fortune magazine.
2010 — Dell is ranked the number one healthcare information technology services provider in the world, according to Gartner, Inc.
2013 — Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners buy back Dell from public shareholders for $24.4 Billion, to accelerate their solutions strategy and to focus on the innovations and long-term investments with the most customer value. This is the largest buyout since the 2007 financial crisis.
2016 — Dell and EMC together become Dell Technologies. This is one of the biggest technology integrations in history, which came after years of partnership.
Beginnings are important, but so is where you end up. We like where we are and where we plan to go. Next time you go to order Dell parts for your computer, we hope our legacy of hard work and dedication shows in our products!
